In the beginning, there was..

Hi everyone! So this is my first grow and before I get into details I'd just like to thank the Rollitup community as a whole for so much great information and for sharing your knowledge. It would have taken me forever to track all of this down on my own and I maybe never would have gotten around to actually starting my grow. So feel free to comment and/or make suggestions, whatever. If you have something to say in my journal you probably know more than I do so I want to hear it!

So with that said, here's what I got:

1x Jack Herer (Greenhouse Seeds)
1x Vanilla Kush (Barney's Farm)
1x Critical Kali Mist (Delicious)
1x Fruity Chronic Juice (Delicious)

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I soaked them in a filtered water / 3% H2O2 (.5 tsp) solution for about 6 hours and they all sank. The glasses are sitting on a heat mat since it's just a little cool inside of my house.

Next, I just wetted down some paper towels and plopped the beans on them, covered with another layer, sprayed the top layer, and covered them with a saucer plate.

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So now for the wait.

I have the DR90II outfitted with a Lumatek 400W ballast, Hydrofarms Radiance 6" Hood, and a DigiLux 400W MH bulb. I'm expecting the rest of the equipment to be on my doorstep later this week, hopefully just in time to make a new home for my four little ones.

This is a soil grow and I'll be using Subcool's 2010 recipe pretty much to a T. I've been doing a lot of research on the Soil Food Web and the benefits of using Compost Teas. This morning I ran across this site -->http://simplici-tea.com/. Now I know that it doesn't take much to make a brewer but I like their system and it's vetted by some reputable experts, including Jeff Lowenfels (Teaming with Microbes Author), so I'm thinking of ordering their 5 gallon brewer as well. It looks very well put together and is the cheapest unit I've seen for sale. I'm also really interested in the Nutrient Pack, which is the base for their Organic Soil Mix. The ingredients look similar to Sub's amendment recipe, with just a couple of differences that stand out to me, like the lack of Azomite. Anyone have an opinion on a comparison of the two? Regardless I'll probably order some of that and keep it for my next grow.

Hopefully the next update will be me moving 4 successfully germinated seeds into a mix of Light Warrior and Roots.

Peace and

yep, seems like you have a great idea of what you're doing. Im in

Welcome aboard, there's plenty of room on this boat

Tunes said:

Vanilla Kush sounds really good

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yeah it does sound good but i am not much of a fan of barney's gear anymore. i have had really good luck and really bad luck with his stuff but its just my experience and i hope this seed grows for jane's phasm.

good luck with the grow. pulling up a seat for the boat ride.

Thanks 'Smoke and Coke'; are your concerns with Barney's related to quality of the seeds or the plants.. both? I have a few other strains to take the place of whatever doesn't make it, but I hope I don't have to do that. I was really wanting to pop a Jilly Bean but with four plants in a 3'x3'x5' I didn't want it to be over-crowded. I'll probably try to grow her with one other large strain next.

Holy Shit! I just took a quick peek and they've all popped! It hasn't even been 24 hours. Right back with a pic!

i had barney's blue cheese fems that i purchased but could not grow it for a year. the next 2 years i grew out 4 seeds and they all grew pretty much the same and were one of my favorite smokes for a couple of years. after the time i purchased, the tude sold out of the bluecheese and then restocked. i didnt buy more, but alot of people that bought the new restocked seeds ended it with problems like low germ rate i think.

my problem was with a pack of regular red diesel seeds. out of 10 seeds, 9 did not pop. i still have 1 of the seeds left.
so just because i had a problem with a bad batch of seeds, doesnt mean that all of his gear is bad, but for me i am done with his stuff.
since then i have tried big buddha's bluecheese and its just a tastey as barney's.

dont give up hope on the vanilla kush, it could be a winner.

Unreal man, I truly did not expect this. I floated them right at 24 hours ago and put them in the paper 18 hours ago. It's a little hard to tell in the pic but all four have opened up. Should I put them in my starter soil now?

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Well it is nice to have the option to make those decisions isn't it. There are just soo many providers of good seed it seems. I would have probably done the same thing if I experienced that. At first look I thought the VK was the only one that didn't pop but I took a look underneath and sure as shit, she's a go!

you can plant them now and should be fine.

i prefer to have just a little longer root before i plant. but sometimes it just depends on how much time i have and if the seeds can wait until i get back to them.

also more chance of damage to the root if it gets too long and grows into the paper towel.

They're going in now; just have to go get some party cups and mix the soil. I got caught slacking off. This being my first grow I was just predicting it would take a couple of days due to what I've read.

cool good luck and keep us posted.

dont overwater them and get the light on them when they pop the soil.

Alright so I'm using a 60/40 mix of Light Warrior to Roots Organics here. I spread it out on a sheet of newspaper to break up any clumps and then sprayed down evenly with water. I filled each party cup about 40-50% with this mix and the rest is straight Light Warrior.

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I'm using the heat pad again because it's a bit chilly and since I have this Hot House dome I'm utilizing that to keep humidity up for the time being.

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Here's one of them in the soil, you can barely see it around 2 o'clock and the tap root is stretching towards 12 o'clock.

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Sprayed the soil down again so it's nice and moist and then put them to bed.

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Once they're out, will the diffused sunlight be alright for them until they're ready to go under the 400W MH?

if the light isnt enough for them, they will stretch and if it gets top heavy early on , the seedling will topple over.

the 3rd pic where you are showing the seed and root. did you cover it up? and its hard to tell from the pic but looks like the seed is in a deep hole. i only put about an 1/8 inch of soil on top of the seed. maybe a little more but not much.

There's maybe 3/8" of very loose LW on top of them. If that's too much I can just move a little to the side. Hmm, I don't have a light other than the MH. I could probably pick up a CFL tomorrow though.

i wouldnt move any soil. just leave them alone now. a cfl or 2 would be perfect for a week or so after they pop the soil.

This is most likely the closest I'll ever get to being a proud father..

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I know, I know, "couldn't even spring for a decent camera for the occasion", but I promise to get something better than an iPod before harvest.

This is day 3 from the moment I floated them so I'm extremely pleased so far. I couldn't believe that from the time I left for work this morning to the moment I got back they had all sprung out from under the soil and were standing at attention; I'd say about 1.5" above the surface. The Jack Herer is a touch behind the others but I've now moved the girls into their permanent residence..

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and she's already started to open up a bit more.

I was going to order a true CFL system from Greners today and try to get it expedited but I'm really glad I didn't. Instead I ran up to Lowe's at lunch and grabbed a fixture and the bluest CFL I could find (5000k). It's rated for 2100 lumens at 150W. I'm going to be keeping a real close eye on the amount of stretch. If it gets too be a bit drastic I'm bringing in the MH; will just have to keep it up high and maybe put some diffuse material on the dome. Speaking of that.. I'll take it off once the true leaves have opened up and I'll lose the heat mat when I turn on the 400 watter. As you can tell the tent is a bit bare but that will all change soon. I have the rest of the equipment on the way and will post pics of the rest of the room when I have it all buttoned up. The dome is holding steady at 79.9/68%.

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Good conditions for seedlings?

its looking real nice. sounds like a plan.

i see you didnt put holes around the bottom of your cups. make sure you dont over water. there isnt much for roots yet to need alot of water.


if you get a little stretch , when you transplant to a larger container you will be able to plant it deeper and cover up some of the stem. this will also give it more support.

I cut three t-shaped slots in each cup around the bottom perimeter for moisture to escape from and one in the bottom. I'm just misting a little bit right before the light goes off and then again right after I turn it on.

I was actually just looking through some other threads about stretching issues. These things look to be reaching quite a bit. Take a look-see:

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Should I lose the dome and bring the CFL in a bit? I'm guessing there's around 4 inches from the tops to the light with the dome in between them. I stuck a fan right outside the tent, so it's pulling through creating a draft.

Thanks for all the advice so far, keep it coming!