AK48 & Bubblicious (Nirvana Seeds) and T. Haze x Skunk #1 (Sam the Skunkman)

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

bigbabyjesus

Member
Joined
May 9, 2008
Messages
14
Reaction score
3
This is my first grow -- took several months to get everything together and have a good place for the setup. Now I'm worried I might have some sick plants. I got a 400W HPS ballast from HTGSupply (currently using the 400W MH conversion bulb that came with the system) - been vegging for about 4 weeks now. I can't tell if I have males or females - if anyone sees something or needs a better pic, please let me know.

Right now, I have three Nirvana Seeds "Bubblicious" strains vegging (about 2 weeks old now, sprouted in rockwool and transferred to soil), two Nirvana Seeds "AK-48" stains vegging (4 weeks old), and two "Sam the Skunkman - T.Haze x Skunk #1" in veg state (2-3 weeks old, seeds planted in soil). The T.Haze x Skunk seeds were freebies.

Some history: Couldn't afford a hydroponic system, so I decided to go ahead and do the first grow in soil. I couldn't find any good potting soil, so I made the mistake of going with the Miracle Grow "Organic Choice" - let me warn anyone who is not familiar with this garbage. Do some internet searched on this, and you'll find that not only is it not organic, many people have found glass, plastic, and other actual trash pieces in this soil. Mine appeared to have glass and also was more like mulch than potting soil - large wood pieces and very bad at draining. I also noticed a lot of insects (spider mites I believe).

I had two more Skunk x Haze plants initially and one AK-48, but they died shortly after sprouting in the Miracle Grow soil. I made a long drive to pickup some Fox Farm Ocean Forest Potting Soil from a hydro store in a neighboring city - replanted everything, and this is where I am now.

At first, I had a wardrobe-type setup, with 6 "100W" equivalent daylight CFL's. This was for about the first 2 weeks, before I got the kitchen rack.

Next, I got a kitchen rack system and placed it in hallway in my small living space - at this point (2 weeks ago) I started using the 400W MH conversion bulb. I also have a "SunRise" adjustable light hanger. I'm using some 6 ml black and white poly surrounding the top, bottom, and 3 sides of the setup. I thought the mesh wire of the rack would work great for ventilation issues, and the adjustable height shelves would be great for flexibility. (Used some little "clothes pin" type clips from the hardware store to hold these up). Also have a purple sheet around the front of the rack to help with the light escapting from the top and bottom).

The back side is open for stale air to be expelled, and for air from the floor A/C vent to get through to the growing area. I have a small oscillating fan keeping the plants cool, and a fan on the bottom rack blowing the cool air from the floor vent upwards. The ballast is on this bottom shelf, too. Temps in the growing area are now steady at 74F, humidity is 40%.

I feel like this is becoming a book, but wanted to let you guys know that I had some issues for the first few weeks with overwatering. This may have caused the gnat problems I had, which were a problem throughout the house. I freaked and bought some Einstein Oil a week ago - this cured my gnat problem, but I'm afraid I overdid it with this stuff. Afterwards, one of the T.Haze x Skunks started to wilt very badly.

The Einstein Oil (or overuse of it) seems to have saturated the soil pretty thoroughly in the T.Haze and also one of the AK48's. When all the other plants had dried out, the T. Haze seems to continue to be saturated with the oil. Should I try to flush this out? I'm afraid of overwatering and causing more problems. Also, the AK48's are starting to wilt at the bottom - see the leaves curling under the main area of the plant. Is this normal? I got some Epsom Plus (magnesium sulfate plus potash) from a nursery - anyone used this stuff? Any advice about this would be most appreciated.

I started using Fox Farm's "Grow Big" along with "Big Bloom" about 10 days ago, but stopped as I am not sure if overfeeding could be the problem I'm having with the T.Haze and AK-48's. Also, I read that the T.Haze is very sensitive to nutes, and I think this could be a problem, too, since I fed it 3 or 4 times.

Due to overwatering issues and the gnats, I got some 3/4" hex nuts from the hardware store - about 40 cents each. I used these to prop up the plants from their saucers (even if only in one place) so that the container wouldn't be sitting in excess drainage and more airflow could get through the bottom. I also noticed that the containers had formed some sort of suction vacuum with the drain saucers and runoff was apparently trapped inside - hopefully this has been addressed, too.

100_1823.JPG


100_1811.JPG


100_1809.JPG


100_1807.JPG


100_1808.JPG


100_1812.JPG


100_1813.JPG


100_1814.JPG


100_1815.JPG


100_1819.JPG


100_1816.JPG


100_1818.JPG
 
Just wanted to specify - the two plants with the most foliage are the AK48's, the smallest are the Bubblicious, and the two in the middle in terms of size are the T. Haze x Skunk #1's (one is wilting, the other is doing great)...
 
im sitting in the front row of this grow,hope this goes good.im interested in how your skunk x haze plants come out,i also have some of them going right now.pics are in my journal. good luck dude-peace
 
Thanks - I did some research on the T. Haze x Skunk and apparently this plant is a monster (even with SCROG) and can flower for months and months. Some people have luck apparently using limited nutes as well as gradually reducing flowering times below 12 hours...
 
They Look fine to me bro... Especially the AK48... I've also ordered some AK48 and am excited to see them grow!
Keep up posting!
And writing stories... You like writing I see :D
 
I know, my post is too long! Even I get bored reading it, but I think for anyone interested in these journals, it supplies all the needed info. I might have forgotten to say that since the beginning, these are all on a 24/0 light routine...

Questions -

1) Anyone with AK48's have any pics of male/female preflowers?
2) Anyone used Epsom Plus?
3) Anyone ever over-used Einstein or other Neem oil? Remedies?
4) Looking at my AK48's (the largest plants), you may not really be able to see it, but the bottom, largest leaves are curling under. Is this normal?
 
I have another question, in case anyone ever looks at this - does it matter how close an HID light is to the canopy, as long as the temps are under control? My 400W HPS system (with conversion MH bulb) says 18-24 inches is recommended, but I was thinking I would try 12" and keep it as cool as possible.

Any advice would be great...
 
damn, had to throw out one of the AK-48's today - both plants have wilted considerably despite attempts to regularly water them when my soil moisture meter tells me to... Leaves curling under, plant looks like its shrinking.

took the AK-48 out of the pot and I'm wondering if the MG Organic Choice soil had anything to do with it. It looked like the roots were all twisted up on some of the bark/mulch pieces...
 
Throw 'em in a hempy bucket and watch 'em grow!
 
ah, the homemade hydro system. i need to learn about this! no need spending the big bucks on a premade system when all you need is a large tub and a pump, eh?

I have good news and bad news - the good news is that I figured out that I was probably placing the light too close to the plants (about 12 inches or so) - I thought that if I controlled the temps, then it wouldn't matter, but apparently I was wrong. Remodeled my setup yesterday so that the light is about 22-23 inches away, and I can reposistion with the SunRise or whatever the thing is that I have on the pulley system.

So apparently, if it's so close to the light that you can feel heat on your skin, then the plant is too close...
 
yea exactly,thats how i determine how close to put my 600 watt,its like 22 inches away and ive had no problems yet.i think once i get them all going,ill raise it to 26 inches,just because it luminates more of the area by doing so,as long as its not too far away,you'll be good to go.
 
I have both my 1000w 12 inches from my canopy with no ill effects. Having the hoods air cooled, ocilating fan, and keep the temp at the canopy at 80 degrees or below is what you are looking for. The closer the light the more energy the plant can produce.
 
yeah, i have this free reflector that came with my HTG supply-made system that seems to radiate a lot of heat - the instructions on the packaging recommended 18-24 inches, so I'm trying to be safe with about 22" right now. when I have some more money, I'm going to get an air-cooled reflector and run the HVAC ducting from the floor vent to it...

I'm going to post some more pics tomorrow. They are all doing much better now that I've moved the light higher up...
 
Wer those HazeXskunk1 seeds freebies?

i bought some from nirvana and they gave me those as a freebie,but they looked too small in size but ther color was right tho. was it the same with you or is it just like that wit that strain?
 
man, this is my first grow, so I don't know how big seeds should be -- I think the T.Haze x Skunk seeds were smaller than the others, though... And yes, they were freebies from the order I placed with seedboutique (gypsy nirvana)
 

Latest posts

Back
Top