First grow - Bag seed from 3 different strains

[freeskierpj]

 

TO VIEW THE MOST RECENT POST WITH A PICTURE UPDATE CLICK HERE!

First of all I am keeping this more as a journal for myself than as a growlog however it will be updated regularly so everyone is welcome to grab some and then pull up a chair and wait for the pics to start coming in...

Germination started yesterday May 10th at 11:00am
Bagseed 1 (Started with 12 seeds now down to 11)
Bagseed 2 (1 seed)
Bagseed 3 (2 seeds)

Thursday May 10th

11:00am - Seeds from bag numbers 1 and 2 are put in cups of room temp water to be germinated under a small fluorescent light until the roots break through the seeds.

1:30pm - Seeds from bag number 3 are put in cups of room temp water to be germinated under a small fluorescent light until the root breaks through the seeds.

7:00pm - 3 of 12 seeds from bag number 1 and 1 of 1 seed from bag 2 and 1 of 2 seeds from bag 3 have dropped to the bottom of the cup indicating that they have become filled with water.

Friday May 11th

2:00am - 7 of 12 seeds from bag 1, 1 of 1 seed from bag 2, and 2 of 2 seeds from bad 3 have dropped to the bottom of the cup indicating that they have become filled with water.

7:30am - 11 of 12 seeds from bag 1, 1 of 1 seed from bag 2, and 2 of 2 seeds from bad 3 have dropped to the bottom of the cup indicating that they have become filled with water.

9:30am - Seems like 1 of the seeds from bag 1 won't end up germinating so I took it out of the cup. I also put a 23w 6500k CFL as well as a normal 60w household bulb to get the full spectrum of light over the seeds as well as to keep it warmer cause it's been a bit chilly recently.

Current lighting setup for germination:

[camperman]

 

See if you can round up a couple more CFLs n ditch that incandescent if ya can, it won't help ya much. Also, your seeds don't need light to germ, they'll pop open just fine in the dark.
Keep us updated

[Butcher Bob]

 

Originally Posted by freeskierpj

Seems like 1 of the seeds from bag 1 won't end up germinating so I took it out of the cup.

Different seed batches will have differing germination times...I wait two weeks, then give up.

[freeskierpj]

 

Originally Posted by camperman

See if you can round up a couple more CFLs n ditch that incandescent if ya can, it won't help ya much. Also, your seeds don't need light to germ, they'll pop open just fine in the dark.
Keep us updated

I've heard different thoughts on this...some say you need light, some say light helps promote quicker germination, some say it can be in light but the more in the shade the better and some say that it is best in pitch black...More than anything the lights are there for heat due to the cold nights. One of the seeds from bag 3 has already broken and the root is about 3-5mm long already. I did get rid of the incandescent simply due to the fact that it burnt out haha but I will be getting more CFLs once I get them in the jiffy seed starters I bought:




Now that the seeds have sunk to the bottom of the cup would it be a good time to get them in the seed starters or should I wait for them to pop open to put them in there?

Originally Posted by Butcher Bob

Different seed batches will have differing germination times...I wait two weeks, then give up.

The seed was a whitish green and after taking it out of the cup I pressed very slightly on it and it smushed very easily so I don't think it would have germinated anyways.

[freeskierpj]

 

Alright so as of now, 3 seeds from bag 1, the 1 seed from bag 2 and both seeds from bag 3 have cracked and started to show their hypocotyls. I think that's the right term from what I saw in this picture:


Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong...

[freeskierpj]

 

Sorry for the rambling ahead of time, this is more for me to keep the links and the math here in the thread rather than asking for suggestions but any input is greatly appreciated especially if you have any experience using these specific MH/HPS systems.

I'm looking into lighting now because I know that the CFLs will hold these plants as they mature but once they outgrow the 18oz party cups I have I want to provide them with the best lighting possible. I was checking around and on ebay and amazon and I found these HPS/MH kits:

For 163.95 (free shipping) it is a 400w light system with both HPS and MH bulbs and it comes with reflector hangers (called Yoyos) and a 24 hour timer:
Apollo 400watt HPS MH Grow Light Set System kit Dimmable Digital Ballast

For $199.95 (free shipping) it is a 600w light system with both HPS and MH bulbs and it comes with reflector hangers (called Yoyos) and a 24 hour timer:
Apollo 600 watt HPS MH Grow Light System Set Kit Dimmable Digital Ballast

The reflector I'd be using is the CT27 (cool tube) for either light system I would pick.

I also found 42w CFLs that with 12 of them as well as the twin bulb sockets and the socket to plug adapter came to 149.95 total but then when it comes time to flower I would need to replace the 6500k CFLs with 2700k CFLs thus spending even more money so I decided that an MH/HPS system would be more cost effective in the long run.

Now it's only a $36 increase from the 400w to the 600w so is it worth it to pony up and get the 600w because this is my first grow of many to come and I figure that once I get some more money I'll be growing more than just a few plants. Would the 600w be fine to be used with only a few plants in the grow area or should I get the 400w and then eventually upgrade and buy the 600w. I just feel like getting the 600w is a better investment as it will be useful for when the time comes that I can have 16-20 plants growing rather than just a few.

Also both have a 6" cool tube reflector which will be very helpful so I can get some ducting and an inline fan/carbon filter combo to keep the smell down seeing as I live in an apartment and they can be dimmed if the heat gets to be too much so that is a huge plus even though I heard it puts a strain on the bulbs and gives them a shorter lifespan. The actual bulbs aren't too expensive however so I'll probably keep a single backup MH bulb as well as a single backup HPS bulb.

Now they do have a 1000w system however that's 259.95 and I just don't feel like I would need such a strong lighting system (maybe in the future but not for now...

I basically have my eyes set on the 600w system where the MH bulb has 61k lumens and the HPS bulb has 86k lumens compared to the 400w system where the MH bulb has 36k lumens and the HPS bulb has 54k lumens. So the MH 600w bulb produces 1.7 times the amount of lumens than the 400w bulb and the HPS 600w bulb produces 1.6 times the amount of lumens than the 400w bulb...It seems like the 600w is the best bang for my buck...

[Butcher Bob]

 

Originally Posted by freeskierpj

Now that the seeds have sunk to the bottom of the cup would it be a good time to get them in the seed starters or should I wait for them to pop open to put them in there?

12-24 hours in water is all ya need. The seeds have hydrated by that point, so you kin go ahead & plant.

Originally Posted by freeskierpj

...is it worth it to pony up and get the 600w because this is my first grow of many to come and I figure that once I get some more money I'll be growing more than just a few plants. Would the 600w be fine to be used with only a few plants in the grow area or should I get the 400w and then eventually upgrade and buy the 600w. I just feel like getting the 600w is a better investment as it will be useful for when the time comes that I can have 16-20 plants growing rather than just a few.

The 600 is gonna have a penetration ability that is a fair amount better than the 400. And ya don't need the duel bulb...you kin go with just HPS, if you kin find one cheaper than that.

[freeskierpj]

 

I can't seem to find just an HPS for cheaper than the MH/HPS on ebay so I figure I should just go with the dual bulbs MH for veg and HPS for flowering...

[Kaos!]

 

Check craigs list for lights.

[freeskierpj]

 

Only thing I could find on Craigs list was way too expensive but I will keep checking...on another note I've placed the seeds in the jiffy seed starter greenhouse per Butcher Bob's advice so now 13 seeds are in the seed starter pods (1 seed fell down the sink drain...luckily it was one of the seeds that didn't look all that healthy to begin with but who knows that could have been an awesome mother plant lol)

Saturday May 12th

12:00pm - Planted the 13 seeds in the Jiffy Seed Starter kit and got them under light.



These are under a single 23w 6500k CFL and are set near the window for some extra natural lighting. Oh and the light is on a timer 18 on 6 off. The light turns on at 6:00am and off at 12:00am of course the natural light is more like from 5:30am to 8:00pm so 14.5 hours of natural light along with the 18 hours of light from the CFL which I will probably be getting 3 more of until around mid June when I will be able to afford the 600w MH/HPS...