New CFL 2nd grow using Scott's Hyponex Potting Soil in 6" pots
- Thread starter Concord Dawn
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RastaMonsta
Active Member
it was $20 for a 2 cubic feet 56.6 litre bag. heavy as fuck at least 50 lbs. i got it locally at a hydro store.theres a ton where i live. hopefully the cops arent worried about a bag of coco coming out the store. i mean how would they know what u use it on? it can be for your tomatoe garden for all they know. + most of the hydro stores ive gone to usually put everything im buying in a big ass black garbage bag. so i alwayz walk out carrying a black bag. they cant see what i got. no one has followed me home. but if your paranoid get someone to pick up a bag for you. i spent two days looking for coco until i said "fuck it im going to the hydro store FUCK THE POLICE" lol
Concord Dawn
Well-Known Member
well, they sit there and get tag numbers from the cars that park there and go in, then they scope out the house where the car goes, they have florida power do meter checks to see if its using to much electricity. heres the story. i have known the owners for a long from the race track, but i have only been to the store one time afew years agao when i had my big cabinet with hps lights, never been back since.
The Tampa Tribune in Florida
Published: October 2, 2009
Specialty gardening store plants seeds for drug investigations
LARGO - On four different days earlier this year, an undercover narcotics detective with the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office saw a white Volvo parked at Simply Hydroponics, a specialty gardening store in Largo.
The car was registered to a 37-year-old woman living in a Redington Beach waterfront home. The month after her Volvo was last seen at Simply Hydroponics, narcotics detectives raided her home.
They found 141 marijuana plants.
That same undercover detective also saw a silver and gray Honda Element at Simply Hydroponics, that led to a raid at a Clearwater home; a Ford pickup parked outside the store, that led to a raid on a Largo home; a green Dodge van at the store, that led to a raid on a St. Petersburg home; and two BMWs that were spotted at the store, that led to a raid at a different St. Petersburg address.
This is the picture that emerges from affidavits that were written this year by investigators to convince a judge to authorize the raids. Typically, after the plate number is jotted down, narcotics detectives go to property linked to the owner, and see if an inordinate amount of power is consumed there, or whether it smells of cannabis – two tell-tale signs there's a marijuana grow-house inside. Then a search warrant is requested.
All told, according to the affidavits, the undercover detective launched more than a half dozen grow-house investigations simply by running license plate numbers outside the store – a tactic that raises concerns that gardening aficionados might be unfairly targeted by narcotics investigators.
That's what the owner of Simply Hydroponics believes.
"We're being stereotyped and pigeonholed," said Allan Bednar, part-owner of Simply Hydroponics. "It's so ridiculous it's hard for me to grasp."
But sheriff's officials say the store is not being singled out.
"Are we targeting that business? Absolutely not," said Lt. Robert Alfonso of the Pinellas sheriff's narcotics division.
Says sheriff's Sgt. Sgt. Ron Wehr: "I don't have the manpower to put someone there around the clock."
But the impression left by the affidavits is that an undercover detective is there regularly.
He was there Jan. 21, Feb. 12, Feb. 20 and March 25, when he saw that white Volvo owned by Jennifer Ashley Arens, 37, a search warrant affidavit says. Arens was never charged, but Gaelan Clark, 39, was. He fainted when sheriff's investigators showed up at 16108 Fifth St. East, in Redington Beach, on April 30.
The detective was also at Simply Hydroponics on March 26, the day after he last saw Arens' Volvo, according to the search warrant affidavits. This time, he saw a green Dodge van linked to two St. Petersburg men who three years ago were suspected of laundering their drug profits through a tattoo parlor.
This year, as a result of the detective's spotting the van, the men were connected with a south St. Petersburg home, an affidavit says. Detectives could smell marijuana there from the outside, the affidavit says, when they went there. During the raid, investigators found 165 plants, $11,900 and two weapons.
On March 26, the detective also saw two BMWs at the store, at least one of which was linked to Richard Tyson Goodbread. Goodbread had been charged in 1997 with one count of manufacturing marijuana, but had entered a pre-trial intervention program, after which the case was dismissed.
When detectives went to Goodbread's home on April 21 in northeast St. Petersburg, they found 19 live marijuana plants, the affidavit says. This time, he was charged with two counts of manufacturing marijuana. In July, he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to two years probation.
Sheriff's investigators say they are usually outside Simply Hydroponics in connection with some other investigation when the undercover detective runs a plate. The detective said that he will run a car owner's history through criminal data bases to see if the owner has a history, as Goodbread did, but if none surfaces, the detective says he will drop the matter.
"I respect the constitutional rights of these people and I put it aside," he said. His name is not being printed due to the undercover nature of his work.
Said Alfonso: "I'm sure there are legitimate people there that go there to do legitimate things."
When asked why the affidavits strongly imply each investigation is launched as the result of one detective running a license tag, investigators respond that the affidavits don't always give a complete picture – just enough of one to persuade a judge to authorize a search.
When the sheriff's office announced the raid on the Redington Beach waterfront home, the press release said nothing of the white Volvo spotted at Simply Hydroponics. Instead, the release said the case began after investigators received a tip.
Defense attorney Timothy Hessinger, who represented Goodbread, said he thinks the sheriff's office has a confidential informant at Simply Hydroponics who tells investigators when someone buys merchandise for a grow operation.
"I don't know if they work there or visit there or hang out there," said Hessinger, a former prosecutor. "I can't swear to that, but I'm pretty sure. Otherwise, how would they know what they are purchasing?"
As for the practice of running tags, Hessinger doesn't have any problem with it. "It's all fair. There's nothing illegal about it. It's kind of like police officers hanging outside a bar looking for DUIs.''
Simply Hydroponics is not the only business where a purchase sets off an inquiry, investigators say. Once, narcotics detectives homed in on a suspect after hearing he was buying an inordinate amount of topsoil at Home Depot, said Wehr.
"If you are in the business of growing marijuana, you have to go to a supply store," said Alfonso.
But a review of this year's search warrant affidavits filed by the sheriff's office shows the only business mentioned in any of them is Simply Hydroponics. Bednar, the part-owner, says he doesn't believe detectives are spending a fraction of the time at Home Depot or Lowe's that they are outside his enterprise.
And his isn't the only specialty gardening store in the nation getting singled out, he said.
He said he has friends with shops all across the country, and he's heard stories for years – store patrons being followed home, law enforcement agents knocking on their doors in the middle of the night, asking to take a look inside.
"It's not a new tactic," Bednar said. "It's just coming to light."
"They are going to target your customers," he said. "It's been an ongoing issue in our industry."
Whenever he or his staff gets the impression anyone is in the store to buy supplies for a grow operation, he said, the person is asked to leave.
"Anyone who tries to do a nod and a wink is thrown out of the store," he said.
And, Bednar says, Simply Hydroponics is apparently being singled out by the sheriff's office at a time when the business is trying to do good things in the community – such as lending its expertise to inmates in work release programs so they can learn how to grow food.
"We're doing everything we can, but there's not much you can do about it," Bednar said. "They are going to do what they are going to do."
Reporter Stephen Thompson
Published: October 2, 2009
Specialty gardening store plants seeds for drug investigations
LARGO - On four different days earlier this year, an undercover narcotics detective with the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office saw a white Volvo parked at Simply Hydroponics, a specialty gardening store in Largo.
The car was registered to a 37-year-old woman living in a Redington Beach waterfront home. The month after her Volvo was last seen at Simply Hydroponics, narcotics detectives raided her home.
They found 141 marijuana plants.
That same undercover detective also saw a silver and gray Honda Element at Simply Hydroponics, that led to a raid at a Clearwater home; a Ford pickup parked outside the store, that led to a raid on a Largo home; a green Dodge van at the store, that led to a raid on a St. Petersburg home; and two BMWs that were spotted at the store, that led to a raid at a different St. Petersburg address.
This is the picture that emerges from affidavits that were written this year by investigators to convince a judge to authorize the raids. Typically, after the plate number is jotted down, narcotics detectives go to property linked to the owner, and see if an inordinate amount of power is consumed there, or whether it smells of cannabis – two tell-tale signs there's a marijuana grow-house inside. Then a search warrant is requested.
All told, according to the affidavits, the undercover detective launched more than a half dozen grow-house investigations simply by running license plate numbers outside the store – a tactic that raises concerns that gardening aficionados might be unfairly targeted by narcotics investigators.
That's what the owner of Simply Hydroponics believes.
"We're being stereotyped and pigeonholed," said Allan Bednar, part-owner of Simply Hydroponics. "It's so ridiculous it's hard for me to grasp."
But sheriff's officials say the store is not being singled out.
"Are we targeting that business? Absolutely not," said Lt. Robert Alfonso of the Pinellas sheriff's narcotics division.
Says sheriff's Sgt. Sgt. Ron Wehr: "I don't have the manpower to put someone there around the clock."
But the impression left by the affidavits is that an undercover detective is there regularly.
He was there Jan. 21, Feb. 12, Feb. 20 and March 25, when he saw that white Volvo owned by Jennifer Ashley Arens, 37, a search warrant affidavit says. Arens was never charged, but Gaelan Clark, 39, was. He fainted when sheriff's investigators showed up at 16108 Fifth St. East, in Redington Beach, on April 30.
The detective was also at Simply Hydroponics on March 26, the day after he last saw Arens' Volvo, according to the search warrant affidavits. This time, he saw a green Dodge van linked to two St. Petersburg men who three years ago were suspected of laundering their drug profits through a tattoo parlor.
This year, as a result of the detective's spotting the van, the men were connected with a south St. Petersburg home, an affidavit says. Detectives could smell marijuana there from the outside, the affidavit says, when they went there. During the raid, investigators found 165 plants, $11,900 and two weapons.
On March 26, the detective also saw two BMWs at the store, at least one of which was linked to Richard Tyson Goodbread. Goodbread had been charged in 1997 with one count of manufacturing marijuana, but had entered a pre-trial intervention program, after which the case was dismissed.
When detectives went to Goodbread's home on April 21 in northeast St. Petersburg, they found 19 live marijuana plants, the affidavit says. This time, he was charged with two counts of manufacturing marijuana. In July, he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to two years probation.
Sheriff's investigators say they are usually outside Simply Hydroponics in connection with some other investigation when the undercover detective runs a plate. The detective said that he will run a car owner's history through criminal data bases to see if the owner has a history, as Goodbread did, but if none surfaces, the detective says he will drop the matter.
"I respect the constitutional rights of these people and I put it aside," he said. His name is not being printed due to the undercover nature of his work.
Said Alfonso: "I'm sure there are legitimate people there that go there to do legitimate things."
When asked why the affidavits strongly imply each investigation is launched as the result of one detective running a license tag, investigators respond that the affidavits don't always give a complete picture – just enough of one to persuade a judge to authorize a search.
When the sheriff's office announced the raid on the Redington Beach waterfront home, the press release said nothing of the white Volvo spotted at Simply Hydroponics. Instead, the release said the case began after investigators received a tip.
Defense attorney Timothy Hessinger, who represented Goodbread, said he thinks the sheriff's office has a confidential informant at Simply Hydroponics who tells investigators when someone buys merchandise for a grow operation.
"I don't know if they work there or visit there or hang out there," said Hessinger, a former prosecutor. "I can't swear to that, but I'm pretty sure. Otherwise, how would they know what they are purchasing?"
As for the practice of running tags, Hessinger doesn't have any problem with it. "It's all fair. There's nothing illegal about it. It's kind of like police officers hanging outside a bar looking for DUIs.''
Simply Hydroponics is not the only business where a purchase sets off an inquiry, investigators say. Once, narcotics detectives homed in on a suspect after hearing he was buying an inordinate amount of topsoil at Home Depot, said Wehr.
"If you are in the business of growing marijuana, you have to go to a supply store," said Alfonso.
But a review of this year's search warrant affidavits filed by the sheriff's office shows the only business mentioned in any of them is Simply Hydroponics. Bednar, the part-owner, says he doesn't believe detectives are spending a fraction of the time at Home Depot or Lowe's that they are outside his enterprise.
And his isn't the only specialty gardening store in the nation getting singled out, he said.
He said he has friends with shops all across the country, and he's heard stories for years – store patrons being followed home, law enforcement agents knocking on their doors in the middle of the night, asking to take a look inside.
"It's not a new tactic," Bednar said. "It's just coming to light."
"They are going to target your customers," he said. "It's been an ongoing issue in our industry."
Whenever he or his staff gets the impression anyone is in the store to buy supplies for a grow operation, he said, the person is asked to leave.
"Anyone who tries to do a nod and a wink is thrown out of the store," he said.
And, Bednar says, Simply Hydroponics is apparently being singled out by the sheriff's office at a time when the business is trying to do good things in the community – such as lending its expertise to inmates in work release programs so they can learn how to grow food.
"We're doing everything we can, but there's not much you can do about it," Bednar said. "They are going to do what they are going to do."
Reporter Stephen Thompson
Concord Dawn
Well-Known Member
hey, thanks for stopping by T33, i need all the luck i can get, LoL.
well its day 90 for the girls and nothing has really changed, brown leaves and all, LoL. the buds look ok for having the brown leaves, i just dont get what im missing here, soil, ph, nutes, and rain water, its just not that hard to grow a dam weed!! i took the plants out and cleaned up the box, there were dried leaves and dirt on the floor of the box so i just wanted to clean things up a little.
man i will be so glad when this grow is over, i just dont get along with this strain at all. im gonna do some research on which strain will be best suited for my growing conditions. its starting to cool down a little now so im hoping this next grow will go a little smoother over the winter. i will not give up!! LoL. well, heres todays pics.
well its day 90 for the girls and nothing has really changed, brown leaves and all, LoL. the buds look ok for having the brown leaves, i just dont get what im missing here, soil, ph, nutes, and rain water, its just not that hard to grow a dam weed!! i took the plants out and cleaned up the box, there were dried leaves and dirt on the floor of the box so i just wanted to clean things up a little.
man i will be so glad when this grow is over, i just dont get along with this strain at all. im gonna do some research on which strain will be best suited for my growing conditions. its starting to cool down a little now so im hoping this next grow will go a little smoother over the winter. i will not give up!! LoL. well, heres todays pics.
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Concord Dawn
Well-Known Member
well, not sure yet, still working on that. i want to order some good seeds as all of my grows so far have been just mid bag seeds and then these 2 clones from the last grow. ive been very lucky on getting females, 5 out of 6 seeds i germed have been females. so this time, i would like to order 4 different strains and do 2 at a time of some femmed seeds. i wanna try a different grow medium and have thought about using a different nute like like the fox farms 3 part trio. and i want to try this jungle growth soil mix.
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SmeLLyTreeZ
Well-Known Member
That sounds like a good plan cd, that FF trio works well and I can tell you that the fox farms feeding chart seems to be right on from my experience.. How many weeks you thinking of letting the girls flower for?
Concord Dawn
Well-Known Member
these 2, im gussing 4 more weeks, that will be 10 total flowering weeks, 3 more than molly, but i'll watch the trichs here in a couple more and see where im at. venus looks great, while raven is still brown, LoL. like i said, i'll just be glad when im done with this. then i'll regroup and get my shit together for the next grow, im in no hurry, ya know. just want it to be right, LoL.
SmeLLyTreeZ
Well-Known Member
Yea I hear ya, its better to take you time and get it right. If you remember the 2 original bagseed that I topped and the other shortrider that I brought and put under my buddies 1k hps.. Those have been flowering for around 10 weeks and still look like they have a week or 2.. So I wouldn't doubt it you can flower these girls another 4-6 weeks at least..
Concord Dawn
Well-Known Member
yeah, like i said, i'll just be glad to be done with these and this strain, the pink buds looked cool but didnt mean shit when its done, its still just crap weed. hell i would rather grow a couple more bag seed plants, but i just hate waiting 30 days to find out if it s male or female. and my luck, i would get this same strain again out of my box o seeds, LoL. although i do have some in a little baggie from some other good bud i smoked a few weeks ago i wouldnt mind trying, just the male/female thing.
SmeLLyTreeZ
Well-Known Member
You should start those off now and just use party cups to sex them.. Find out what ones are females and transplant..
I actually just popped 3 random funk bagseed for a party cup attempt. I've been wanting to do it so I figured what the hell lol..
I'm going 12/12 from seed to give them a try too.. Figured I would try these a little different seeing there going to be in a party cup for there whole life..
I actually just popped 3 random funk bagseed for a party cup attempt. I've been wanting to do it so I figured what the hell lol..
I'm going 12/12 from seed to give them a try too.. Figured I would try these a little different seeing there going to be in a party cup for there whole life..
RastaMonsta
Active Member
that article is intresting. the cops around my neighborhood sit at the gas station looking to see who buy dutch masters,phillies,blunt wraps, anything to roll up weed. and they have stopped me once like this already. if they can tell im growing weed with my small ass setup then they are fucking good and i deserve to be caught. my dad works for FPL and he tells me they shut down grow houses all the time. but those are comercial operations growing alot of bud. im alwayz home so i can tell if someone reads my meter. + if they smell weed around my house its not cuz of my grow up. its cuz im blowing the house down and smoked out in there! lol
i cant wait to see what ur final numbers are in terms of weight.
i cant wait to see what ur final numbers are in terms of weight.
Concord Dawn
Well-Known Member
man, thats crazy, thats my deal, i dont wanna get busted for growing 2 little suck ass plants, LoL. not that i wanna get busted at all.
its day 91 and the plants look the same, i made another jug of nutes and this time its just the florabloom and jacks, we'll see if that changes anything. this bud is real light and fluffy, so i dont expect great numbers, just like molly, she was only about an oz, but hey its bud and will hold me over till the next round.
heres the link to their web site, watch the commercial, has their race cars sitting in front of the store. they do have some good coco coir though. Simply Hydroponics now im up in the air about grow mediums, coco coir or jungle growth soil and they have the 3 part flora series but no fox farm.
its day 91 and the plants look the same, i made another jug of nutes and this time its just the florabloom and jacks, we'll see if that changes anything. this bud is real light and fluffy, so i dont expect great numbers, just like molly, she was only about an oz, but hey its bud and will hold me over till the next round.
heres the link to their web site, watch the commercial, has their race cars sitting in front of the store. they do have some good coco coir though. Simply Hydroponics now im up in the air about grow mediums, coco coir or jungle growth soil and they have the 3 part flora series but no fox farm.
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Concord Dawn
Well-Known Member
oh yeah treeZ, i dont have the money right now for the 4 bulbs and 3 Y's i need to get the veg box going and im not taking any from the flower box, one day it will all be done, LoL. i could just start them in the flower box and go 12/12 but i'll wait. only a week till work starts, i hope. im making a list of what i want and need, this next grow will be the shits!!
SmeLLyTreeZ
Well-Known Member
Yea I hear ya, I had to scrape my last little bit of money together to make that carbon filter. The good news is, it seems to be working great already and all its doing is sitting in the top of my closet lol..
I'm just throwing the party cups off to the side in my flowering cab.. If you get the itch just do the same and we will do our own little party cup thing.. I understand if you want to wait though, I'm just saying if you feel the need
I'm just throwing the party cups off to the side in my flowering cab.. If you get the itch just do the same and we will do our own little party cup thing.. I understand if you want to wait though, I'm just saying if you feel the need
Concord Dawn
Well-Known Member
i have the need to, LoL, but i will wait till i get the stuff i need to get everything i want. i've always wanted to do the party cup thing though.Yea I hear ya, I had to scrape my last little bit of money together to make that carbon filter. The good news is, it seems to be working great already and all its doing is sitting in the top of my closet lol..
I'm just throwing the party cups off to the side in my flowering cab.. If you get the itch just do the same and we will do our own little party cup thing.. I understand if you want to wait though, I'm just saying if you feel the need
SmeLLyTreeZ
Well-Known Member
Well maybe we will start our own party cup grow at the begining of next year or somethin..
Concord Dawn
Well-Known Member
hell yeah treeZ, sounds good to me. maybe i'd have better luck with those, LoL.
well, day 92, same ole shit, i cannot stress how much i want these to be done, its to late to scrap these girls as im sure i'll get some ok buds off them, but dam!! i just dont understand whats wrong with them. now there are more leaves turning brown on venus too. this just sucks, LoL. i backed down on the nutes, only water when the soil starts to dry out, which is about every other day, the temps are ok, and the ph is good. heres the pics.
well, day 92, same ole shit, i cannot stress how much i want these to be done, its to late to scrap these girls as im sure i'll get some ok buds off them, but dam!! i just dont understand whats wrong with them. now there are more leaves turning brown on venus too. this just sucks, LoL. i backed down on the nutes, only water when the soil starts to dry out, which is about every other day, the temps are ok, and the ph is good. heres the pics.
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HippySmoke
Active Member
wow... they look angry... and if it is not PH I have no idea why...