White widow, Great White Shark

[mike1245]

WOOO! so i was posting about the attitude and GHS a little bit when someone asked if i planned on doing a GJ.. i figured why not. Also, i could use the help. I've never actually had a full crop start to finish. Before i moved i vegged 5 bagseeds under a 4 foot 40W fluoro tube with a bunch of reynolds wrap over them. the tallest plant was probably just shy of 16" and the shortest was about 8" i'd say. i actually gave the plants away to be finished outdoors.

i built a grow box out of a wooden toy box turned on its side. it's about 15" wide 26" high and another 15" front to back. i lined the whole inside with mylar i bought from an art supply store online and put a computer fan in the back blowing OUT for exhaust. the fan is wired to a 10V DC adapter from a sega. the fan was a steal! a 4 pack for $5 on clearance at radioshack. a roll of electrical tape finished it off and made everything a little safer.

i went to the local hardware store for lighting.. i was just trying to get the ball rolling so i got two sockets two power cords and two bulbs (1 daylight spectrum @ 26 watts and 1 2700k also 26 watts). i also managed to get the socket and cord from an old lamp. there was another fluorescent bulb kicking around upstairs thats 23 watts, so i set that up too. 75W of light, i'll estimate about 4500 lumens.

my box at this point in time has 2 cfl's up top, and one in the back a few inches lower. the fan is keeping them very cool, so i'm going to get those y splitters for the sockets and add 2-3 more bulbs, hopefully achieving around 150 watts of power in this small space, as well as bringing up the temps because i feel they may be too low.

for seeds, i got the indica h mix from GHS which is great white shark, white rhino, lemon skunk, trainwreck and cheese, as well as a nirvana white widow 10 pack and a pick n' mix DP strawberry cough fem seed. with this i got 5 free g13 power skunks and 1 fem durban poison. what a deal. anyways...

after building my box, i tried to germinate 8 or so seeds from a bag of mids that had an outstanding quality, and i had a very low germination rate. i ended up with one seed to try and grow as a test to see if my box would work. since it sprouted up and is growing away happily, she's coming along for the ride.

i have germinated and planted 3 white widows and the 1 fem great white shark. all have broken the soil, but the white widows are definitely off to a better start. please note this is a 100% germination rate. excellent!

today is probably day 4. i smoke too much and open the box to look at the plants too often and i feel like theyre not growing at all it's terrible!:smoke1:

i forgot to mention.. all i could get was miracle grow moisture control for soil, but i've seen a few cases with good success using it, apparently i won't need to feed my plants for a while, but when i do i have shultz 10-15-10. when i need to, i'll get a timer.

i feel confident in myself so far, i hope this works out. i wish pH equipment wasn't so expensive. can my ph be controlled by flushing frequently when i get to feeding?

here are some pictures. the 1st and 2nd are the box, 3 and 4 are white widows and 5 is my bag seed which i've named "mid grade monster".

 

[mike1245]

hey everyone. sorry i forgot to mention in the first post that i'm using one of the greenhouse color coated seeds.
an update on things. my bagseed is still growing away, roots are sticking out the holes in the bottom, but i can't repot bigger, plus i just repotted. ideas?
all 3 white widows are looking good, one is way ahead and a MONSTER. the other two are around the same spot.
the great white shark just shed the remainder of it's seed and is starting to look up at the light. things are growing very quick, i've been trying to be careful with my watering. should i let the soil get COMPLETELY dry, or just about dry?

gonna get those splitters for the sockets soon, and i will double my power.. probably 3 more 2700k. i want some dense bud for what i'm doing.

also i read somewhere that aging bananas give off some sort of gas that promotes female plants. i had a banana upstairs starting to get slight brown spots. i munched it, then ripped the peel up and put it on top of the soil. today when i got home the banana pieces were just about black so i removed them. i wonder if it'll make a difference.

last question. if i poke a pinhole in the cap of a water bottle and mix a small amount of vinegar and baking soda, would that be a good co2 source? i figure a pinhole will let the gas out slowly and a small mixture won't create too much pressure. i dont know, i feel like co2 would help them.

so we're at day 5 today. i will update again soon with pictures either tomorrow or wednesday at 7 days.

does anyone know why there could be a small amount of purple around the edges of some of the first few leaves? it's happening on every plant.

thanks!

 

[UKgirl420]

looking good off to a great start eace:

 

[mike1245]

thanks!! i can't wait to see what happens with the great white shark. with the ghsc reputation, i feel like it's going to be jaws and eat everything haha.
can anyone point me in the direction of low budget ph control?? i don't want to mess that up. are the test papers accurate?

 

[4u2sm0ke]

hey Mike...green mojo for you..read up on some ph adjusters here..but IMO Ph up/down is cheap..and i use a liquid PH test kit from the pond store..5 drops and the run off water and check color to match PH..i think it was 10 dollars USA. what kind of water are you useing? Thats the first think you want to check PH of..and I know your excitement my friend.. I still feel the same way too..Keep us posted. but most of all KEEP M GREEN

 

[cadlakmike1]

I use the liquid ph tester, it's cheap and readily available at any hydro store, or even anywhere that pet supplies are sold(they are used for fish tanks). Do not put that banana peel in there, i have no idea if it will or will not promote females, but i am sure it will promote gnats and other critters that you would be better off avoiding. I let my soil get completely dry before i water, i stick my finger an inch or two in at first to feel for dampness, eventually though you will be able to tell by the weight of the container if water is needed or not. Everything looks good so far, i hope you are able to get those extra lights, that will be great for you. Didn't you say you purchased four fans, if so maybe hook one up to pump fresh air into the enclosure. Lastly, how large are your grow containers and do they have drainage on the bottom? I'm looking forward to following this, good luck!!!

 

[MARY-JANE]

looking good! :}

 

[kaneboy]

great start i b watching the shark to see if its anything like a cutting my friend gave me 8years ago truly superb weed and am starting a widow grow soon !best of luck

 

[mike1245]

i'm glad you guys are following along! it'll be good to have help!
i have an array of different containers. 1 white widow and the one great white shark are in half gallon milk containers that i thoroughly cleaned. i cut them right below the handle, so they are probably 1/3 of a gallon. i have my bagseed in a four inch yellow plastic pot and another white widow in a brown 4 inch pot. the final white widow is in a 24 oz pepsi bottle that i cut the top off of. all have drainage. i accidentally overwatered my bagseed, she looks very sad and droopy at the moment. hopefully she dries out quickly, i simply just used too much water.

anyways, here's the update. we're a week in and the great white shark is really getting started now. it's still not much, but it's growing. 2 of my white widows are really taking off. the one in the milk jug is catching up to my bagseed (started a few days earlier as a test) but the ww leaves are monsters. i'm really blown away by how such a small plant has these HUGE leavs. the ww in the pepsi bottle is a mutant!! hopefully it starts growing normal. i accidentally knocked it over today, hopefully it survives. if not, i'll be germing that cheese :hubba:

should i do any sort of training? so far i have done nothing but the occaisional watering.

and good news! my box is completely secure. i just brought my guitar amp home and plopped it right in front of the box.

thanks for the tips on ph testing. i'll head to my department store soon for those new fluoro bulbs and i'll hit up the garden section. i have 75 watts running right now, and i plan to double it, if not more. lots of light for little space. :aok:

here are some pictures i just took.
1 are my 3 white widows. you can compare the one in the yellow to the picture from my last post. i'm loving these things. how bout that little mutant, huh?
2 is the great white shark. the leaves are extremely jagged. very cool!
3 i scored for $30. jealous? just got the new slide. it has a spring on it. when the bowl is dead, you push the bowl down, and the bottom of it doesn't move so it pushes the ash out. how convenient! stoners are being lazy and productive at the same time!

thanks everyone! i'ma take a few rips then hit the sack. i can't smoke too much of this skunky s***... CRAZY head rushes.
take it easy

 

[mike1245]

p.s. i didn't let the bananas rot away or anything. i just let them get all brown and took them out. they didn't have any mold or any bad odor, they still smelled like bananas. they were only in there for about 8 hours or so anyways.
as for my water situation, i am using it from the tap. i let it sit out in an open container for about two days before use. and from what i've read about hydrogen peroxide, i think i might start using it. it seems like a good idea, especially with this moisture control soil. by the way, people seem to hate it. so far i have no complaints. everything is green, and i don't think i'm doing tooooo bad so far. i think i'll let them veg another 3 weeks. then i'll pick up a timer and you know what that means. =]

 

[4u2sm0ke]

Green Mojo 4U my friend..Things sound good..I dont care for moister control because it can go a long time between waterings..which IMO you miss out on some nutes..When the soil dries out is when you water or feed..the longer between these the less you will have for nutes..Make sence?..Good Luch and KEEP M GREEN

 

[mike1245]

So here's an update. Everything is growing away but Most of my plants are on the verge of death. It's a ph problem. If I use bottled water that ranges from 5.7 to 6.8 will I be okay? Should I flush and repot? Please help! How long would it take to recover? Thanks.

 

[ayap_s86]

so many time i try to make the ganja grow...
but all my plant dead...
what is the problem...
i dont understand..

 

[BuddyLuv]

I am not sure but that guy^ sounds like papabeach.

You should buy a jug of distilled water and adjust the pH to 6.5-6.8. Then poor three times the volume of water through the soil this should give you a thorough flush. Then start over using pH adjusted water and 1/4 strength grow nutes, unless you soil mix is already nutrient treated like Miracle Grow Pro-mix or Fox Farms. Also be careful to not overwater them. I have seen numerous people kill their plants with too much attention.

 

[mike1245]

alright here's another update. I picked up a gallon of distiller and used it all on the plants. I can't even tell you how yellow the runoff water was. I wasn't able to get them completely cleaned out but I'm going to buy a few gallons of that water and next time they get thirsty I'll make sure they are clean enough. At the end it almost looked like the doil was just tinting the water. I now have 6 26 watt cfl's. Keep in mind this is 15" wide 15" front to back and 26" with a little of that taken up by lights. 10,500 lumens 156 watts. Yes.

Do you think my miracle grow soil will have any nutritional value after all of this flushing? I have nutrients I could use.

Thanks!

Ps the great white shark is moving right along. One of my ww is out of control. 7 fingers on the fan leaves already.

 

[BuddyLuv]

good, get that MG soil completely flushed out. There are many members that have nute problems with it. Since you are growing WW (which I have found to be very nute sensitive) you may want to go with a soil that contains very little nutes next time. I bet that is the problem you are dealing with right now.

 

[mike1245]

that makes complete sense. Thank you for your help! The problems have not worsened in the past 12 hours so I think we'll be okay. Only reason I have the my soil is because it is all that is available since gardening is out of season. I'm going to flush again next watering til it's clean and then maybe use a very low dosage of nutes. I need to repot soon, these babies are more than rooted!

Thanks again. Later!

 

[andy52]

sounds like you are really dedicated to this grow.just do not over love them.the plants actually need very little,just in the right amounts.get your ph on and you will be ok.good luck

 

[TURKEYNECK]

looks good man, I just ordered the same 10 pck from attitude.. did they come in the GHS package like the pic? also.. you keep sayin white WIDOW.. that pack has white RHINO right?

 

[mike1245]

Unfortunately I had to kill my bagseed I forgot to mention. It was older than these and hit these ph problems much earlier. I'm going to replace it with cheese and water only with distilled. My ww's and the gws have not gotten any worse today which is good. Next water I'm going to give them another good flush to completely clean out the soil. That being said, is there any way I can prepare the soil for the cheese? I'm asking because it was pointed out that mg soil has strong nutes. Also, since I've flushed this much, are there any
nutrients left? Should I lightly start feeding? thanks