highchome

Yeah, money... The cheapest option I can think of is cardboard. Ugly as all hell, esp if its in a used area but it will work. If you need it to be reflective then you can even paint it with flat white paint. 

Mostly people would advise against cardboard because of potential mold. But if its an option for you and nothing else is then why not :)

Managing light leaks is quite important to avoid issues when flowering though, so I'd say its probably worth seeing what you can do for as cheap as possible. Send a pic if you do use cardboard, I love insane DIYed things  

2 hours ago, Stinger96 said:

I will disturb them during the day and can not really get the space dark enough.. Anny sugestions welcome..

I'm not sure what your grow area is like, but Panda Film (e.g. https://hydroponic.co.za/hydroponics/black-white-panda-plastic-sheet/) is not too expensive and works very well. Its also great for DIY and odd shaped spaces because its plastic.

If you grow area is already reflective enough and you just need to block out light, then just a black plastic sheet works well as a light barrier and is a bit cheaper. (Needs to be thicker than a dropsheet BTW). 

I'm not sure how much that helps... Maybe give us an idea of what the grow area looks like and someone here will have a better suggestion

2 hours ago, Totemic said:

Effect wise, Chocolate Gelato, while a whole lot more indica than most Gelato strains, still has a clear, uplifting high, with minimal body stone. 

Palomino is very indica dominant and more an evening type smoke, with a relaxing high, and a medicated body effect. 

Tortoni is also indica dominant, with an uplifting, creative high, with virtually no body stone

Gelato CBD effects are going to vary, but it's an interesting mild high/not quite high. Really just calming and anxiety reducing. 

Thank @Totemic! 

That is a extremely nice mix of strains in the pack. Could not be happier. now I just wish I had about 3 * the space :) 

Hi @Totemic,

I recently got your 2021 Summer pack from the 420sa store, with these strains

• Chocolate Gelato
• Palomino 
• Tortoni 
• Cherry Gelato CBD

Do you have a rough idea of what you'd expect effect wise from each of those? 

Thanks :) 

43 minutes ago, Ill_Evan said:

Naaaaah I play on hard mode. 

Right, well good luck then . Looks like a pretty healthy seedling there so far

Ah crap . Would you consider getting more seeds? I think its allowed by the rules under certain conditions

Update: Day 2 of veg

Not too early to count as veg right?

Not a great photo, but also not much to show yet.

They were under an old blurple light which explains the stretch. I've now got them under a 120W QB. I'll keep the humidity dome for a while. 

The temperature in the tent seems to be going from 19-23 so not terrible, but I'll have to watch that as it gets colder here.

Update: Day 4 of germination

Its alllliive!

All three seeds have just broken the surface. They should all be up by the morning. 

15 hours ago, PsyCLown said:

Ideally you want plants from 2 different seeds.

Great thanks for the tips. My clones still have a few weeks to go before I can flip. I'll also log what I do somewhere here.

I've got the IMF one and its impressively quiet. I can't compare to any of the others so I can say which is the quietest, but the IMF seem less popular than the others here on the forum. 

They wont have the high pitch whine that some 12v fans do, but they are sill far from silent. I can't see any way a 20cm inline is more quiet than a 12v fan.

There is quite a bit you can do to lower the noise though. Take a look at how people make boxes for the fans and also mufflers. If you are prepared to go even further insulated ducting will keep it even quieter. Just manage your expectations though "silent" on fans is relative, moving air makes a noise  

E.g https://whatforme.com/inline-fan-noise-reduction-guide and https://www.thcfarmer.com/threads/diy-fan-muffler.24352/

22 hours ago, CreX said:

even the recommended ratio from hortimix

I just realised that we may be talking about different things. My ratios are in weight of the dry ferts, I think you are talking about the ratio once you've mixed a concentrate. Sorry about the confusion there, I should have specified. I skip the concentrate step and make a 60L batch from dry ferts directly.

However I still want to go and check my numbers again, so thanks either way  

I'm going to copy @Promand vent my flower tent into my veg tent. My flower and veg light cycle should mean there is always something keeping the veg + clone tent warm.

Unfortunately that wont help for germination as my flower tent is being used for drying this week. Not that nearly having a bunch of dry buds is ever actually unfortunate...

I think I'll use an old fish tank heater in a container under the jiffies for now. Its pretty cold this week and the stress of waiting to see them break the surface after having them in water possibly to long may be to much if they are slow . I don't have heating pads and I'm not sure how much I trust them without temperature control or at the very least some good testing.

7 hours ago, CreX said:

sjoe, that low on the mpk? i ran out of mpk the most especially when i move to flower.

but to be fair, i have seen guys use hortimix in a wide variety of ways and generally they are led to success.

Yeah that MPK ratio was worrying me as soon as I sent it. I'll do the numbers again and maybe adjust that a bit, and maybe drop the N. But as you say hortimix seems to be fairly tolerant... Still better to get it closer to ideal, maybe the plants will do even better.

33 minutes ago, Prom said:

You shouldn't glass seeds longer as 12 hours, enough soaking for sure 

I've mostly grown from clones, so my germination technique can clearly do with some work. For the next few days I'll going to be obsessively watching for any growth 

Your seeds seem to be in the lead :) How warm is your grow area that they were in?

9 hours ago, CreX said:

Sweet EC targets... I meant what ratio of the 3 so you use? 

For veg I use only A and B   1.5A:1B

As soon as a flip I start using bloom (MPK) and switch to a ratio of 8.4A:8.4B:1MPK

For both veg & boom I also add CalMag and Silicone to the mix

Its been a long time since I worked that out, I think it was based on their recommended ratios. So far that worked really well for me. However now that you ask I'll compare to what you are doing

Planted out into jiffies. This forum is amazing! Thanks again 

1 hour ago, Totemic said:

Yeah and they can drown quickly too. 

1 hour ago, Prom said:

Seeds can drown.... plate them, they are moist... let em breathe.

Thanks, I appreciate the advice. Planting now 

24 hours in water, no roots yet but all three sank, so I'll leave them for another 12 hours. If nothing after that I think I'll plant them in jiffies anyway. Leaving them too longer in water makes nervous. 

I've placed the container on a router, which keeps it warm :). But even so I think its pretty cool at night here, so that may be slowing things down a bit.

6 hours ago, CreX said:

And can't grow wrong with the hortimix... What ratio are you following? Supplied ratio or custom? 

Custom based on the last few grows. I can't remember where I got it from originally, but its roughly this now (EC targets)

Seedling     Early Veg      Late Veg       Early Bloom    Late Bloom    
500          1400           1500           1400           1600

I've not been checking my runoff EC for quite a while now, I've not had any issues. But I think for this grow I'll be more careful and do so.

Quick update. I've done two grows now under the 240w QB and the difference in yield vs what I was getting in roughly the same space before is incredible. I think its probably a five times improvement with no other change, and that is using a less than 50% of the electricity I was before with the cheaper + DIY lights. I'm not sure 500% would be what everyone should expect, but a significant improvement seems a reasonable expectation.

I just got my STS ingredients and now just need to wait for a few clones to get big enough. While I'm waiting I'm looking for some tips on how best to do things

A few questions I have so far 

• I see a few articles saying that its best to use multiple plants (i.e. feminize one, pollinate the other). The argument seems to be that the pollen is ready before the flowers are. But if I collect the pollen, which I'd want to do anyway, there is there any real disadvantage to using one plant? Logistically it seems simpler to isolate a single plant...
• How do you isolate the plant and ensure no pollen spreads? Obviously a separate tent, but I'm sure that is not enough. I'd guess I'd have to have the separated as far away from one other as possible (different rooms). What type of filter? (stockings wont work right?)
• What schedule do you recommend for STS?
• Rough timeframe?
• Any good articles / books I should look at?

Thanks

On 5/6/2021 at 2:44 PM, CreX said:

lets see what we have learned since last time

1) Get a proper lights (I finally got a nice QB)

2) I @#$@#%#$%# hate spider mites 

Seeds dropped at around 21:00 today

Medium: I'll be growing in coco/perlite using hortimix ferts.

Grow space: 1x1x1.8m box lined with pandafilm

Lights for flower: 240w quantum board purchased from @Light It Up

I'm really looking forward to this and watching everyone's grows. Good luck everyone.

Seeds are here 

I've been awol on the forum for a while, looking forward to being more active and seeing how everyone's grows go

I just received 4* 3 Feminized seeds from @Totemicfrom the 420sa store. https://store.420sa.co.za/product/totemic-summer-2021-bundle/

Firstly R420 for 12 feminized seeds is fantastic but I was also really impressed by the packaging. 

Resealable bags, clearly labeled etc. Very very nice. Thanks @Totemicand 420SA