West Coast Chapter: mc130p's Horticultural Adventure Continues

mc130p

Well-Known Member
Hello Everyone,

It's been a few years since I had the opportunity to be on the site and check out what everyone is growing and how they're growing it. I won't get into it too much, but life presented me with a number of difficult challenges that I had to prioritize. For a while, things looked pretty bad for me. At one point, I was down to my last 3 grand in savings and couch surfing for about 6 months. It was exceptionally tough to deal with unemployment, having worked my entire life. I don't really associate my identity with my job, but all the free time and waiting was almost too much to handle. It was also demoralizing to apply to so many positions only to get rejected without even an interview. So much for the so-called 'hot' job market. Eventually, I realized that there are many more external factors that go into whether or not someone is interviewed or hired. Thankfully, I did not give up and I tried to not take it too personally. Even though I'm terrible at networking, I was able to get into this job through an "internal" recommendation, which means a lot more than anything coming from a stranger on the internet. And strangely, it was from a person that I never expected to help me like that. But frankly, I also never expected to need help like that. I am very thankful for all the help I received.

That being said, I think that I turned the circle into a spiral and I am doing better than before. I ended up moving to California last summer and finally, I have this new grow set up: CXB3590s x 3, 1 @5000K and 2@3500K running at 90% max inside an Infinity 2x4x6 tent. I have the drivers mounted remotely in a control box with the timer and a relay that sends driver power if the 12V fan driver successfully turns on. I still intend to add a 730nm initiator, as well. If anyone has a recommendation for something that I can buy off-the-shelf, it will be greatly appreciated. The exhaust is an 8x24? Infinity carbon scrubber and an Infinity 6 inch inline fan, with the environmental controller: timer, heat & humidity sensor. I also got two 9 inch Infinity fans to blow air around inside the tent. They're controlled by the Infinity controller as well. Overall, I like Infinity products-I used them on my last grow cabinet as well. The tent runs quietly and cool and the inline fan max setting is at 3/10 with an average temp ~76F.

I thought that since I lived out here in Cali, getting seeds wouldn't be a big deal, but not a lot of dispensaries sell seeds around me. It seems that I would have to drive to Oakland or something. and given how bad SF is at the moment, I wasn't very excited about this prospect, since it seems Oakland is worse. Instead, I ordered some seeds from the reliable, old 'Tude Seedbank, but I received my package with a letter from Customs telling me that my seeds had been confiscated and destroyed. That's the first time that has ever happened-I got my seeds with no problem on the East Coast. Luckily, my old friend held my seeds and mailed me my seed stash. Currently, I have a Crockett's Strawberry something (I forgot, heh) and a Dr. GrinLife (Bodhi Tree of Life x Dr. Grinspoon accidental cross) that germinated last week.

If anyone has any seedbank recommendations, I would appreciate hearing them. Also, if anyone has any recommendations for the strongest buds, I would love to hear those as well, as I have been out of the loop for quite a while. I saw that the Emerald Cup was next month. Is that a thing worth attending?

Both of these plants were regular seeds, so I'm crossing my fingers for at least one female!

I hope you've all been well!
 

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The Dawg

Well-Known Member
Wow I thought I would never see the day that brother mc130p would utilize a grow tent :clap:
Here's a somewhat local I.E. Northern Ca. seed bank :hump:


Also your 730 initiator bongsmilie

 
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mc130p

Well-Known Member
Wow I thought I would never see the day that brother mc130p would utilize a grow tent :clap:
Here's a somewhat local I.E. Northern Ca. seed bank :hump:


Also your 730 initiator bongsmilie

Thanks a lot!! Just ordered the 730 puck :hump:

I will check out ILGM.

I wanted to build a new cabinet, but I was thinking it will be a pain to move like the last one, so I went with the tent :) Also, I have a bigger place here and now I don't have to worry about the wrong people seeing my grow. I like the metal corner connectors on the Infinity tent. I had a tent years ago and I remember that I broke one of the plastic corner pieces. The tent seems to be of good quality so far, I hope it lasts for a while.
 
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puffenuff

Well-Known Member
Hey man glad to see you around and happy to hear things are looking up! Also.....welcome to California!! About what area are you? Bay Area?

Yeah dispensaries are hit or miss for seeds, and not a lot have clones either anymore. Most of the breeders are doing direct sales on their websites nowadays. Legit seedbanks to check out would be:

Neptune - huge selection but the freebies aren't great

Attitude has a new site where they ship from the US. Smaller breeder selection though.

Gaslamp is legit as well. They always hit you with some solid freebies from Humboldt seed company.

I've also used brotanical gardens, tscnovelties, north Atlantic seed with no issues.
 
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mc130p

Well-Known Member
Hey man! It's great to see you online :) I'm in Pacifica and working in SSF. I packed up all my clothes and a few books in the car and drove all the way out here after finally getting a job offer. I couldn't live in SF proper because it was too much of the big city experience for me, to put things politely. The taxes and prices are a bit out of control here, but overall I think I'm glad I moved to California. I've met a lot of great people out here and while the bay area has downsides, I think for now, positives still outweigh them. PG&E is a big downside...

Hey man glad to see you around and happy to hear things are looking up! Also.....welcome to California!! About what area are you? Bay Area?

Yeah dispensaries are hit or miss for seeds, and not a lot have clones either anymore. Most of the breeders are doing direct sales on their websites nowadays. Legit seedbanks to check out would be:

Neptune - huge selection but the freebies aren't great

Attitude has a new site where they ship from the US. Smaller breeder selection though.

Gaslamp is legit as well. They always hit you with some solid freebies from Humboldt seed company.

I've also used brotanical gardens, tscnovelties, north Atlantic seed with no issues.
Thanks a lot for the information on the seed/clone situation. I have to give a big shout out to @Bad Karma ....more info coming- I'll make a new update this weekend!
 

OneHitDone

Well-Known Member
Hello Everyone,

It's been a few years since I had the opportunity to be on the site and check out what everyone is growing and how they're growing it. I won't get into it too much, but life presented me with a number of difficult challenges that I had to prioritize. For a while, things looked pretty bad for me. At one point, I was down to my last 3 grand in savings and couch surfing for about 6 months. It was exceptionally tough to deal with unemployment, having worked my entire life. I don't really associate my identity with my job, but all the free time and waiting was almost too much to handle. It was also demoralizing to apply to so many positions only to get rejected without even an interview. So much for the so-called 'hot' job market. Eventually, I realized that there are many more external factors that go into whether or not someone is interviewed or hired. Thankfully, I did not give up and I tried to not take it too personally. Even though I'm terrible at networking, I was able to get into this job through an "internal" recommendation, which means a lot more than anything coming from a stranger on the internet. And strangely, it was from a person that I never expected to help me like that. But frankly, I also never expected to need help like that. I am very thankful for all the help I received.

That being said, I think that I turned the circle into a spiral and I am doing better than before. I ended up moving to California last summer and finally, I have this new grow set up: CXB3590s x 3, 1 @5000K and 2@3500K running at 90% max inside an Infinity 2x4x6 tent. I have the drivers mounted remotely in a control box with the timer and a relay that sends driver power if the 12V fan driver successfully turns on. I still intend to add a 730nm initiator, as well. If anyone has a recommendation for something that I can buy off-the-shelf, it will be greatly appreciated. The exhaust is an 8x24? Infinity carbon scrubber and an Infinity 6 inch inline fan, with the environmental controller: timer, heat & humidity sensor. I also got two 9 inch Infinity fans to blow air around inside the tent. They're controlled by the Infinity controller as well. Overall, I like Infinity products-I used them on my last grow cabinet as well. The tent runs quietly and cool and the inline fan max setting is at 3/10 with an average temp ~76F.

I thought that since I lived out here in Cali, getting seeds wouldn't be a big deal, but not a lot of dispensaries sell seeds around me. It seems that I would have to drive to Oakland or something. and given how bad SF is at the moment, I wasn't very excited about this prospect, since it seems Oakland is worse. Instead, I ordered some seeds from the reliable, old 'Tude Seedbank, but I received my package with a letter from Customs telling me that my seeds had been confiscated and destroyed. That's the first time that has ever happened-I got my seeds with no problem on the East Coast. Luckily, my old friend held my seeds and mailed me my seed stash. Currently, I have a Crockett's Strawberry something (I forgot, heh) and a Dr. GrinLife (Bodhi Tree of Life x Dr. Grinspoon accidental cross) that germinated last week.

If anyone has any seedbank recommendations, I would appreciate hearing them. Also, if anyone has any recommendations for the strongest buds, I would love to hear those as well, as I have been out of the loop for quite a while. I saw that the Emerald Cup was next month. Is that a thing worth attending?

Both of these plants were regular seeds, so I'm crossing my fingers for at least one female!

I hope you've all been well!
Welcome to Cali, seeds are a plenty out here and there are many breeders doing work and selling direct also.
Check out the here. You can also get seeds off the Future Cannabis Project site :

You are also close enough that many would gladly send you cuts of anything in there collection if your interested ;) :peace:
 

mc130p

Well-Known Member
Welcome to Cali, seeds are a plenty out here and there are many breeders doing work and selling direct also.
Check out the here. You can also get seeds off the Future Cannabis Project site :

You are also close enough that many would gladly send you cuts of anything in there collection if your interested ;) :peace:
Thanks a lot for helping me feel more welcome :) I'll check them out too!


It was a busy week and a nice, quiet weekend, and the plants are doing well. Both have been topped at the first node and soon, I will top them again. I got the 730nm puck from Rapid LED in the mail this week and I connected it to the center 3590's heatsink through a pre-existing hole in the puck's heatsink. I might get a second one, but first I need a 12V driver that I can install in the control box so that I can see the distribution of light in the tent. If anyone is interested, I can get a picture, but it isn't really a revolutionary thing.

The high point of the week came on Saturday, when I got a completely unexpected care package from @Bad Karma . What a good person. I can't wait to try these seeds out! Thank you again :) The Jilly Glue from Mz. Jill Genetics is first on my list. It's going to be awesome to try something new! Early this summer, I hope to put together a small veg tent, something like the size @the -Dawg is using. I'll have to wait a bit, because putting the main tent together was more expensive than I planned, so I need to save up a bit of money. Whichever comes first- a male from one of these two or a veg tent, Jilly Glue is up to bat! I'm tempted to get a third pot and put one in the tent, but I will probably wait so I can do it properly.

Lastly, I just want to say that the community here is really great. A good lot of you are some top notch people. I'm lucky to have friends like you and I hope that I can contribute positively to whatever you're up to, as many of you have done for me. Thanks for the warm welcome after a long and unexpected absence:clap::hug:

All the best! Let's have a great week!
 

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Bad Karma

Well-Known Member
Thanks a lot for helping me feel more welcome :) I'll check them out too!


It was a busy week and a nice, quiet weekend, and the plants are doing well. Both have been topped at the first node and soon, I will top them again. I got the 730nm puck from Rapid LED in the mail this week and I connected it to the center 3590's heatsink through a pre-existing hole in the puck's heatsink. I might get a second one, but first I need a 12V driver that I can install in the control box so that I can see the distribution of light in the tent. If anyone is interested, I can get a picture, but it isn't really a revolutionary thing.

The high point of the week came on Saturday, when I got a completely unexpected care package from @Bad Karma . What a good person. I can't wait to try these seeds out! Thank you again :) The Jilly Glue from Mz. Jill Genetics is first on my list. It's going to be awesome to try something new! Early this summer, I hope to put together a small veg tent, something like the size @the -Dawg is using. I'll have to wait a bit, because putting the main tent together was more expensive than I planned, so I need to save up a bit of money. Whichever comes first- a male from one of these two or a veg tent, Jilly Glue is up to bat! I'm tempted to get a third pot and put one in the tent, but I will probably wait so I can do it properly.

Lastly, I just want to say that the community here is really great. A good lot of you are some top notch people. I'm lucky to have friends like you and I hope that I can contribute positively to whatever you're up to, as many of you have done for me. Thanks for the warm welcome after a long and unexpected absence:clap::hug:

All the best! Let's have a great week!
It's truly great to see how excited you are.
I'm happy to know that I played a part in that.
In the past other members of this forum were kind enough to share with me.
This time I was the one fortunate enough to be in a position to share with someone else.
 

puffenuff

Well-Known Member
Hey man! It's great to see you online :) I'm in Pacifica and working in SSF. I packed up all my clothes and a few books in the car and drove all the way out here after finally getting a job offer. I couldn't live in SF proper because it was too much of the big city experience for me, to put things politely. The taxes and prices are a bit out of control here, but overall I think I'm glad I moved to California. I've met a lot of great people out here and while the bay area has downsides, I think for now, positives still outweigh them. PG&E is a big downside...



Thanks a lot for the information on the seed/clone situation. I have to give a big shout out to @Bad Karma ....more info coming- I'll make a new update this weekend!
Pacifica is a nice spot. I'm about an hour from there. Glad you're enjoying the bay so far. Yeah there's some downsides and it's pretty expensive but there's a ton a cool stuff to see and do and awesome places to explore. Like others have already said if you need something, genetics or recommendations on anything let us know. Peace
 

mc130p

Well-Known Member
Pacifica is a nice spot. I'm about an hour from there. Glad you're enjoying the bay so far. Yeah there's some downsides and it's pretty expensive but there's a ton a cool stuff to see and do and awesome places to explore. Like others have already said if you need something, genetics or recommendations on anything let us know. Peace
Thanks a lot, Puff! And yes, it is too expensive! One thing that I like to do out here is riding my ebike around. It's a "Juiced" ebike and I've put a little over 1000 miles on it-probably about 700 miles here. I love the big fat knobby tires and it does well on the trails. I've had the bike for almost 3 years, but it only got some summer use when I lived on the East Coast. I ride it to work in SSF when the weather is nice. The hills here are no joke, and I'm not trying to get too much exercise, so the electric motor is cool. I can ride all the way across the peninsula in 35 minutes, with a 700 ft elevation change, and not even break a sweat. Also, no registration fees! Stickin it to the man!
 

mc130p

Well-Known Member
Hello everyone,

Things are going slowly in the garden and the plants are small. I put the plants on 12/12 last weekend and there's not a lot of action. I think things have been too cold for optimal growth. During lights off, it has gotten as low as 60 and during lights on, it's been only getting to 75-76. I'll try to keep the window closed more often to see if that helps. Given how expensive it was this winter, I'd hate to have to run a space heater:-| I also bumped up the thermostat in the tent to let it get warmer before the fan kicks up in speed.

For one of the plants, I think I over-watered it a bit and that also stunted growth. I guess I'm busy and out of practice, so I was thinking automation will be the best thing to do to prevent this from occuring in the future. I've been considering getting a Blumat system set up again, but I think I want something with a timer and a pump. I was thinking about implementing something like what is described here in this thread:
https://rollitup.org/t/best-most-reliable-automatic-irrigation-setup.1088964/ @T macc

Also, I think at least one of the plants is a male. So, I went to Home Depot today and got a couple more pots and some dirt, and I put two of @Bad Karma 's seeds in a wet paper towel to germinate :hump: It seems like I've got plenty of space in the tent for more plants, plus at least one will be moving to the garbage pail soon.

I got the 730nm puck hooked up and running now. It runs for 10 minutes just prior to lights on and 10 minutes after lights off, with a 5 minute overlap. It's powered by a new and separate 12V 20W driver that is hooked up to channel 2 of the timer in the control box. The puck is only 7W, so adding a second will be no problem.

I hope you've all been well! Have a great week!
 

mc130p

Well-Known Member
Hello RIU peoples,

It's been a couple weeks and a lot has happened in the garden, so it is time for an update. Both of the plants were beautiful males, so I put them in the trash. I germinated two of @Bad Karma 's Jilly Beans, as I mentioned, and they've both been topped at the first node as of yesterday. I also got out two more seeds: one is a GrinLife (I just love it), the other is Bad Karma's Monkey Mints: Grease Monkey x Mint Chocolate Chip- sounds pretty dank to me! They've both germinated and look good so far :) Fingers crossed for four females!!

I've made some updates to the garden as well. I got the second 730nm puck installed, I attached a pic of the setup. They're just on opposite sides of the center light, which seems to give good spread across the tent.

I also picked up a BluMat Tropf kit, a small submersible pump, some 1/4" tubing, and used an old cat litter bucket as a reservoir for my automatic drip system :) I put it together last weekend. I've been watching it like a hawk all week and so far, no problems. It works really great, actually. One thing I like is that the pressure varies less as the reservoir volume decreases, and the drip rate is really consistent. It's much better than a gravity fed system. I'm using the BluMats as normal, with water inside them, so they only drip when they need to. I really appreciate that I only have to mess with the water and nutrients so rarely, even with the small pots that I like to use. The plants look like they are enjoying the setup :)

Dawg, soon I will be ready for a cup contest, if you are ever so inclined :hump::weed:
 

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mc130p

Well-Known Member
Hi Everyone :)

Sorry for the slow posting...I've been really busy with work lately! Just a quick update for now: the first two seeds to germinate ended up being males. The second two are female! I bought some dirt from the store that came with free gnats...I am waiting on some diatomaceous earth and Safer Soap to come in the mail. I'll post more words and some pics tomorrow :) I'm off work for another day!
 

mc130p

Well-Known Member
Hey Everyone!

Sorry again about the slow updates! It was nice to have a three day weekend.

So, we're down to two plants in the tent. The gnats seem to be only in the two pots with the new dirt, so I have taken them out. Hopefully they don't move the the other two now........... I hate gnats, man. The Safer Soap and the diatomaceous earth will take care of them if that happens. The blumats weren't working well in that soil either, as you can see in the pic. This dirt was called "Recipe 420" (lmao) from Ace Hardware. It looked fine when I opened the bag-like normal potting soil, but I definitely can't recommend it and won't be using it further. The two females are in Miracle Grow Indoor Potting Mix from Home Depot, which I used a while back. The first plants in this thread were planted in Fox Farm, I think I like it best. On the East Coast, the Miracle Grow soil I bought also came with gnats. I had two seedlings started in these pots, but I'm going to germinate two new seeds this week.

The attached pic is from a couple days ago. The plant on the left is doing quite well, topped once on the first node. I didn't do a good job topping the plant on the right-I just pinched it with my finger and thumb and it seems I got a bit aggressive. She grew slowly at first while recovering but seems to be doing alright and has really put on a stretch. Still, yield will suffer...that sucks. I probably should have started all four plants at the same time, but I was worried about space. Ultimately, I decided the odds of females was a more important variable, so I started the two that we currently see here. I guess it worked out, but I like it when they are topped twice and these two only had a long enough veg time for me to top them once.

That's a lot of males in a row though, whew! Finally, it is great to have some buds coming! I'm going to get started on a separate veg station soon. I was thinking I want to grow some other plants too, since I just like plants in general, but I know it's not a good idea to grow other things with the weed plants. Spider mites are nobody's friend. I remember a long time ago I got a banana plant got me good....as did a rose bush a while later.....(sometimes I'm a bit stubborn) Also, I'm thinking about a way to add under-canopy lighting like I had in the old closet. It did a great job on the lower buds and the plants seemed to love it. Since it's a floppy tent and I can't just screw lights to a wall, I have to be a bit more creative about mounting and supporting lighting in a safe manner-all ideas are welcome!

I hope you're all well!
 

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mc130p

Well-Known Member
Hello RIU peoples,

It's been a few weeks since I made an update, so here's the summary of the happenings in the garden. The fan leaves took a beating with a calcium deficiency ( I think, it looks very similar to a magnesium deficiency, to me). I bumped up the Cal-Mag+ from 4mL/gal to 5mL/gallon. The Grinlife looks happier, but the Monkey Mints still looks unhappy. I still don't have a veg station set up, but I am germinating two Bodhi Black Triangle seeds courtesy of @Bad Karma . Thanks man!! It's going to be annoying, but I will just move them in and out of the tent for 'lights on' at night and natural window light all day while I'm gone at work. This will probably motivate me to get something going with this veg situation :)

But, nevertheless, the buds are growing. Here's a couple bud shots, and a stem shot of the Monkey Mints (that's the only thing that went well so far, haha).

I hope you've all been well!
 

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mc130p

Well-Known Member
Hello everyone!

Well, it was a lofty goal to take the seedlings in and out of the tent every day, and I failed every day, heh. It looks like they will be 12/12 from seed-they've already got blumats installed. Also, I have everything ordered for a pretty sweet veg tent. I'll post some pics soon!

I hope you've been well!
 
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