Green House Seed Co. Jack Herer- Indoor Grow Journal

[drzin978 30]

Hello All,

I am thus starting my grow journal on this forum- I'm attempting my first grow: some Jack Herer from Green House Seed Co. hydroponically, with a 150 Watt HPS light. I have Built a closet to house my hydroponic system and light. First I built the frame, with wheels and light hooks. It looks like this:

Then I lined it with a few layers of space blankets (until no light shined thru.). I put a box fan on top of the closet, to suck air up and out. The bottom of the closet is open to allow an air intake. I have a curtain made of a folded over space blanket with a cardboard frame that is sucked into place when the fan is on, creating a lightproof seal. The finished closet is 18 inches by 18 inches by a little more than 6 feet tall.

Inside the closet a 5 gallon bucket will be the basis of a deep water culture system. The bucket rests on two 2 x 4 boards across the bottom of the closet, which leaves plenty of room for air to enter from below. I have an air pump, as well as General Hydroponics FloraSeries nutrients to begin using when the time is right. I also have a steam humidifier to use in case the air becomes too dry, but this has been providing little or no result. For the long term I have hydroton and a basket bucket lid, but right now I have the seedling positioned atop the overturned 5 gallon bucket. The light is about 2 feet above the plant. Here's what it looks like:

I've been thru three seeds, and two seedlings, due to my own inexperience. The first I let get waterlogged, and gave it nutrients too early on. It became moldy, and I found it dried out and keeled over after leaving it for a few hours. The second also fell over, but lived a little bit longer. I think a combination of my own ineptness in handling the plant and too little watering killed this plant, which stayed alive in an undead "zombie" state for a few days. LOL.

Anyways, the third seed has taken and is growing fairly well. It looks like this right now:

It has been growing sort of sideways, so I attempted to prop it up with a twistie tie. As a result it is now in a spiral. This is fast becoming a tiny banzai tree. Does anyone know how to get it growing straight? I think the shiny reflective bowl I have it positioned in might be part of the problem.

Also one of the baby leaves fell off prematurely. I think the plant will be okay, though, since it has two grown up leaves growing in.

Anyways I got this girl germinating a few days ago, and today it looks like the above. It also notably has a root growing thru the bottom of the cube already. Do you guys think I should get it into the hydroton so this root can keep growing down, or should I let it not grow so other roots grow out? I'm new at this, so I really appreciate your input!

[drzin978 30]

One more thing: I pH balance my water to 5.4 pH with lemon juice.

[Dust 6,284]

hi man, thanks for opening a journal it seems llike you made a nice home for your babyy Be careful with the holes from above that you don't have light leaks when they are sleeping or you could have some surprise ^^

For the seedling yes maybe the reflective bowl is the reason for the spins she must be searching for light, but it's not a real problem

Good luck with your Jack man, i'm not used to your hydro systemso i'm not sure when exactly it must be pt in the system, i'll let the hydro grower tell you that

Have a good grow keep us updated

[drzin978 30]

Thanks Dust-

I'll be careful about the light leaks- usually during the six hours of dark inside the closet it is also dark in the outside room, but by the time I am in the flowering period I hope to put some additional curtains or something to keep light out.

Otherwise I think the bowl is slightly confusing it, but it seems to have the right idea as of this morning.

I really appreciate any and all input, though. I'll keep posting as more happens; the hardest part is waiting and leaving it alone enough to see real growth!

[nicc1976 155]

nice room if you need to now any thing have a look round this site I have found loads off usefull stuff on here about everything you need to now I use to have problems with germination there is a bit on GH SEEDS sight telling you a really good way to germinat your seeds look it up good luck man peace

[TheOne 594]

Hey brother,

Your also gonna want that 150w HPS a hell of a lot closer!

I used two of them my last run, in addition to a 400w HPS and got pretty good results!

I used them as side lighting to help the 400w HPS out and kept it about 4-6 inches from the canopy at all times!

I guess you'll have a really good lighting footprint as your space is so narrow! I just suggest you keep the lights as close as you can at all times!

Your also gonna want to fit a fan in there somehow! Amazon is a good place to go for PC fans!

I have the same "little blizzard" as you do and it's almost as loud as my inline fan lol. Go figure.

Like Dust tho, I can really say as far as hydro, as im a soil guy, so I just offer my input on the setup!

If I remember right tho, your perfect hydro pH is 5.8 not 5.4..

I skip over all the hydro stuff when reading for now lol

Good luck

[drzin978 30]

Thanks International- I have a little fan inside the box by the level of the top of the bucket, I forgot to mention that. Someone on another forum told me to put the light further away- I had it much closer but I got scared the plant was getting too hot. I've been told that my area of 18" by 18" is the optimal size for one plant in a Screen of Green setup. I think a lower pH is better for the seedlings for some reason. I have heard like 5.0 to 5.5, and 5.4 for pH values. I don't know what the best is. Anyways, I'm asking some questions regarding this over on the hydro questions forum too. Thanks again for your input though!

[TheOne 594]

Hey bud,

IDK about whoever told you to move your lights further away...

A 150w HPS isnt gonna burn your leaves if you have adequate air circulation.

I kept my 150w HPSs no further than 6" at all times. And I'd consider the outcome a success!

But here's some a little pH chart I found

[gonzosghost 1,930]

I love this chart, found it last year when I was researching all this greatness It changed my understanding of nutrient uptake

[drzin978 30]

hmm- I'll definitely keep my pH around 5.8 now! Otherwise I have moved my light closer, but my temperatures at the plant level are a little bit too high for my comfort (peaking around 90 degrees Fahrenheit). For this reason I may resort back to having the light further away. Otherwise this little girl is doing pretty well, leaves three and four seem to be slowly but surely developing. I just want to make sure she stays alive!

[TheOne 594]

Good on your taking care of things!

On a side note, if your supplementing you plants with C02, they'll prefer a warmer temp I've read, so 90 should be find, but 91 could be a problem!

Andything over 90 is supposedly where plants slow down and start to feel the "heat". Not saying that's a fact, but I've def. read that and be using it to my advantage!

If this place would let me bring pics from other website I could show you a pic of how close my was butttttttt...yeah, that doen't really work to well lol.

But sounds like you doing fine brother. Keep it moving!

[Dust 6,284]

hey interntionalG, normally you can import esaily any picture from anywhere, just click the image button under the smiley icon, and put the link of you pic it should work too

[TheOne 594]

hey interntionalG, normally you can import esaily any picture from anywhere, just click the image button under the smiley icon, and put the link of you pic it should work too

Remember what happened at my thread when I had to ask you to delete those few posts that we once photos?

I did that then and they weren't working for some reason?

I got a little lax over at the last forum with my identity and had a lot of traffic on my thread so I had to make a change, which brings me here

I was trying to bring those pics from that forums tho

[Dust 6,284]

yeah i remember ^^ but i said "Normally" it should work :P give me in pm one of your pictures link i'll see if it works with me

[drzin978 30]

So my seedling is coming along fairly well... It has leaves three and four coming in slowly but surely, and a root well through the rock wool cube. I have placed the cube into the hydroton pellets in the basket to allow for the roots to grow further. I leave a clear plastic humidity dome over the plant sometimes, but I let it breathe others. It looks like this right now:

It has its one baby leaf still, but it is starting to curl over and turn yellow. Does anyone think I should start nutrients yet? I found this super handy PPM chart for cannabis, but I'm not sure when I should start off with some nutrients.

• 
  
  
  
  PPM for Hanna Chart PPM
  
  
  Seedlings, Early Sprouts 100 to 250
  
  
  Early Vegging 300 to 400
  
  
  Full Vegetation 450 to 700
  
  
  Early Blooming 750 to 950
  
  
  Full Mature Blooms 1000 to 1600

  
  

What do you think guys? I'm specifically asking you hydro guys out there!

[nicc1976 155]

nice man hope she becomes big and beautiful not sure about hanna chart as use soil peace bro