Indoor New grow, Old + New Seeds, ft Optic Foliar

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About time I started a journal. This grow is aimed at growing out seeds from a very badly stored stash. I thought it would be easier than this but it has been 3 weeks, and I have yet to fill up all pots.

Most of them just won't germ, no matter what I try. I guess dead means dead. I actually prefer it that way. Compared to some that will pop a tail but just cannot form cotyledons. Upon closer inspection, seems that the bean inside is just too dried up. All shriveled up, unable to turn into cotyledons. This is most frustrating, as I usually give them some time before pulling the plug. I've tried H202, Kelp and even GA3. I have personally concluded that soaking for around 18-24hrs with some H202 then paper towel them gives me best results.

Some of the seeds that successfully germed ended up giving me mutated growth. Despite the nightmarish start, at least I learnt a lesson this time and will properly store my seeds in the future!

A Big shoutout to @BombSeeds as they are the most viable from this batch. Details below. Dan was also kind enough to send me more seeds, for my next round and just in case, my current seeds all don't germ. An awesome fella! Love the dude and their genetics!

Big thanks also to @Seedstockers_Mischa. I only managed to germ 1 Thin Mint Crack from my Seedstockers stash. And even that one is mutating on me. I was just informed that more Seedstockers are coming my way! Thank you so much!

Of course, not forgetting to thank @HSO-Mark @Dinafem-Mark and Shortstuff for always being so great to me!

I am particularly heartbroken that the below strains did not germ for me:
HSO Bubba Kush
Seedstockers OG Kush and Candy Dawg
Expert Seeds Amnesia Haze
Flash Seeds Purple Mazaar (zero out of 3)
Shortstuff StarDawg
RQS Auto Diesel
And perhaps most bizarre of all, Gorilla Auto from Dinafem. It was the newest and sealed in original packaging with dessicants. Never opened.

I only wanted 10 x 5gallon Pots this run. I do not plan to train them like I usually do. Feel like letting them go natural and perhaps just topping a few tall girls if necessary. Will be a first for me. Depending on the germ rates these couple of days, may have more or less than 10 pots. We'll see.

Details of the grow:
Tent: 4×8×7
Lights: 4000K + 3000K QBs + Red + Far Red + & UVA supplement
Medium: Soil
Nutes: Organic
Fan: 8 inch with speed control
Carbon Filter: 10 inch

Strains that popped first leaves so far. Dates are from first leaves showing. Pics from today:
HSO Dedoverde Haze 1 - 28th June

Shortstuff Auto Gorilla Bigfoot - 1st July (Mutated leaves). Gonna let her be. Don't look too bad.

Seedstockers Thin Mint Crack - 1st July (Mutated leaves). Last seed. Gonna let her be.

Dinafem Cookies - 3rd July. Doing great!

Bomb Seeds Berry Bomb - 3rd July (mutated leaves). Don't look good. But it's my last one left. Gonna let her try.

Bomb Seeds Auto Bomb 1 - 3rd July (cotyledons eaten by ants)

Today

Bomb Seeds Auto Bomb 2 - 5th July (same pot as Auto Bomb 1)

Bomb Seeds THC Bomb 1 - 5th July

Bomb Seeds Auto Bomb 3 - 6th July (2 gallon pot)

Bomb Seeds THC Bomb 2 - 7th July

Lastly, a THC Bomb I had to baby since about a week ago. She didn't look like there was much hope so I transferred her to a solo cup, to see what she can do. She might just make it. We'll see

That's 8 × 5gallon Pots, 1 × 2gallon Pots and a solo cup so far.

1 of the 5 gallon Pots have 2×Auto Bombs in it. I figured it's a small strain and one of the seedlings had 70% of its cotyledons eaten. Still looking healthy though.

After I fill up all pots, will select a few plants to foliar with @opticfoliar Optic Foliar. Thank you Dinesh for the samples!

If Lady Luck smiles on me, I'll be expecting another 3 plants to pop in a day or two:
HSO Dedoverde Haze Auto 2
ShortStuff Auto Gorilla Bigfoot 2
Seedsman White Widow Auto

Hopefully these will make up for the 3 mutated plants. Space should not be an issue as I don't plan to train them wide. Just gonna let them grow upwards.

Till the next update! Thank you for reading.

 

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Update:

First off, the new Seedstockers i received germed 100%! I really needed this confidence boost. I was starting to think it may be me, not the beans. Thank goodness! I knew my germ technique was fine!

Special mention that my beans only took 4 days to arrive, internationally, and over the weekend no less! @Seedstockers_Mischa and Michaela - Mucho Gracias!

I germed 2 x Sticky Fingers, 2 x Purple Punch and 1 x Gelato 41. All popped, some slightly after 18 hours soak + 8 hours paper towel.

36 hours later and they are up and running. A really nice feeling after all the fails.
Sticky Fingers 1 - 16th July. Got her head stuck in the ground. Had to help her out a little but looking good.

Sticky Fingers 2 - 16th July

Purple Punch 1 - 16th July

Purple Punch 2 - 16th July. This one is a little embarrassing to explain. I tripped over the pot while trying to be fancy, getting out of the tent. The planted seed came out of the soil with taproot, as she was already slightly poking. I planted her back but thought she was a goner. So far, cotyledons are already green but first leaves are still pretty yellow, which is unusual for me. We'll see. This is totally my fault though.

Gelato 41 - 16th July

 

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Next are the updates for the older girls/seeds.

Dedoverde Haze Auto - Cruising along since 28th June. Have been fighting urge to top her. As mentioned, I wanna try letting most if not all my plants go normally, with some topping at most.

Auto Gorilla Bigfoot. The new leaves are turning normal. She is also showing heavy variegation on new growths. I do believe she will grow just fine. It looks like a minor mutation. So far, only one leave looks really outta shape.

Thin Mint Crack - Showing some variegation too but growth is still okay. I'm not quite happy with the first set of 3 finger leaves. One of them is still slightly deformed. Hopefully the next set of leaves will be free of such deformity. Am gonna let her be regardless. Its my last one and Seedstockers don't seem to sell it anymore.

Cookies. All good except for a weird finding. On her second set of leaves, one of them is a two fingered mutant, missing the third finger.

Auto Bomb 1 and 2. Doing ok I guess. A little slow but looks okay.

THC Bomb 1. Looking good.

THC Bomb 2. This one is giving me some funky growth too. Different from THC Bomb 1. I seem to be getting a lot of weird plants with these old seeds.

If anyone is wondering about Berry Bomb, I transferred her to a solo cup as she don't seem to be going anywhere. Still gonna let her go till she cannot anymore.

There is also Another THC Bomb in solo cup. This one don't look too good. Struggling to form second set of leaves.

 

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Update:

I have divided the plants into two groups. On one side are the old seeds aka older plants. On another side are the new seeds aka younger plants. I'll also mention which plants received Optic Foliar treatments.

Let's begin with the older ones. Dedoverde Haze is doing well. Today should be around day 28. Doing as she should but still not showing sex. Could be a big one!

Auto Gorilla Bigfoot is doing fine, except for some burnt tips. The only one so far. I used zero bottled nutes. Just top dressed with worm castings, some IMO5 (Indigenous Microorganisms 5) with NPK of less than 3-3-3 dry fert, an organic 6-3-3 dry fert and Neem cake. Each pot gets about half a cup of the above mixture. This is to prepare them for Veg/stretch.

She is also an Optic Foliar girl. Only thing i can think of is the consecutive Optic Foliar treatment I gave that one time. I have allocated Mon, Wed and Fri for the Optic Foliar sprays but accidentally gave one on Tuesday too. None of the other girls seemed affected though. I have skipped giving her the last Foliar. Just water for a while.

Here you can see a third shoot from the same node. No more leaf mutations or variegation on new growths though.

Thin Mint Crack is interesting. Optic Foliar girl. She gave me a pair of good leaves but right after that, gave me a 2 fingered leave. Its like the mutations skipped a node. Fortunately, it looks like the new growths are quite normal so far. Interesting to see how she progresses?

See the two fingered leave?

Cookies doing good but a little short. Also given Optic Foliar. I suspect the soil may be too compact, but my soil is the same mix for all pots. Maybe something was off when I mixed a batch? Not sure but i used a pin to skewer the top soil a little for this pot and also the THC Bomb and Auto Bomb pots. Maybe it's just a small pheno? Around Day 20 or so.

Auto Bombs are doing alright. Auto Bomb 1 and 2 are just starting to do their thing. Its almost like they know they're sharing a small pot and taking things easy. Still very slow for almost 3 weeks old so I also skewered the top soil a little. I'm totally cool with them doing whatever they want. I just hope they don't become unmanageable. My first time having 2 girls in one pot. According to Bomb Seeds, they are not supposed to get taller than 85cm. These two look like they won't.

But Auto Bomb 3 in 2 gallon pot is showing a lot of growth at a slightly younger age. We'll see how she does. I don't plan to pot her up any bigger than the 2 gallon pot she is in. All Auto Bombs are given Optic Foliar.

THC Bomb 1 also looks slow so top soil was skewered slightly as well. But growth looks healthy so gonna just let her do her thing.

THC Bomb 2 is showing no more funky growth since last week but is kinda slow. I potted her to a 1 gallon pot to give the space to Cosmic Bomb. So far so good. Both THC Bombs are fed Optic Foliar as well!

So pretty much on this side of the tent, Only Dedoverde Haze is not getting any Optic Foliar.

 

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The new girls are all up and running, with the latest addition of Cosmic Bomb! I am so excited for this strain but the first seed i germed did not pop. Still in paper towel hoping for a miracle. The second one was good but I may have planted her too shallow. Found her with taproot out of soil in the morning. Replanted her and seems okay today.

Here is Cosmic Bomb on Day 1, 25th July! Please don't stall on me! LOL

Sticky Fingers 1 and 2. Doing good.

Purple Punch 1 is doing good too.

Now for my biggest embarrassment in the tent. Purple Punch 2, that I tripped over and resulted in yellow first leaves, have not fully recovered. She is struggling to catch up but is still a step behind. The yellowish of new growth is still present. Hope she catches up after a while, with more leaves. I gave her Optic Foliar too, with hopes that it'll help her catch up. Looks okay at this angle.

This top view gives a better picture.

She was like this a week ago.

Gelato 41 is growing well like the rest.

Berry Bomb that I moved to a solo cup is showing signs of growth. A little late for 20+ days lol.

THC Bomb in solo cup however, looks done for. I guess we can't have it all lol

 

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Update time. As usual, let's begin with the older gals. Today was watering day, so i took some pics bout an hour after watering. Nothing major. Just a touch of EM4, wood vinegar and potassium silicate aka liquid silicon to PH. PPM only at 96 with 55ppm from tap. Its about as plain as it gets after PHing. But microbes don't dissolve in water i think so it's really just for my info only.

Dedoverde Haze around Day 36 or so. As i expected, she'll be a big one. Doing good and took in a good amount of water today. Am glad I got a big one this round, as the last one i grew was a little small. I won the 2019 HSO grow off with this strain so it means a lot to me.

Tucked some leaves.

Auto Gorilla Bigfoot at around Day 33 is the only one not liking my heat in the tent. She was the same way the last time i grew her. Seems her leaves don't have that slight waxy shine to it. Looks overwatered and some burned tips but I have not fed anything major at all. All other plants are looking good but her. A bit of an eyesore but growth and color looks good. So not gonna stress about it. While tucking leaves, I broke one of her larger fan leaves.

Thin Mint Crack at around Day 33 is growing out of her earlier mutations. Probably won't be huge but will still be very decent. Great color coming from new growth too. I can tell that she's not entirely happy with the heat but is managing.

Cookies is doing her thing at Day 31. All looks good and color is on point too. Only thing is that she's a little short. Nodes are normal, sex has shown and she has grown wider than Pot. I've done leaf tucking on her too. Still hopeful that she will stretch out a little. If not, it's totally fine as I could use some smaller plants in the tent. Gonna be crowded! lol

THC Bomb 1 and 2 grew very well this past week. The earlier signs of weird growth has stopped. THC Bomb 1 is in 5 gal pot. THC Bomb 2 is in a 1 gallon pot. Both at Day 29 and 27 respectively.

Next are the Auto Bomb trio. 1 and 2 are in their same 5gal pot. Should be around Day 28 and Day 30. Doing pretty good. I started training them outwards bit by bit. Looking at how Auto Bomb 3 grows, they should get bushy and will not be easy to manage. I'll do my best.

 

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Continuing on is Auto Bomb 3 at a tender age of Day 28 or so. In a 2 gallon pot but growing very strong. Very bushy though. Gotta really tuck her leaves down. Can tell that she minds the heat a little.

Group shot!

A bit on my lighting. I've gone 20/4 about 2 weeks back after starting with 24/0. Its my first time using this schedule. Previously i was not able to give any real dark period so i just went 24/0. Last grow, I dialed it back a little in flower and liked it. So gonna do 20/4 then 18/6 for last 2 weeks or so. So far so good.

Lights are on about 355W atm, around 40% of total capacity for this side of the tent. Don't plan to exceed 60% throughout grow. Will add UVA In small amounts soon. In about a week. Will start with 2×2 hours. Then 2×3, 2×4 and so on. I don't expect any damage from 390nm-410nm diodes. Some might even say these are closer to blue. There are some very interesting results from adding near UV spectrum so we'll see I guess. Plants are very far from light. About 135cm from pot, 4.5ft.

 

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Now for the younger girls.

Sticky Fingers 1 and 2 are both doing good. 1 is clearly ahead a little but 2 is no slouch either.

Purple Punch 1 is right there with Sticky Fingers 1. Nice growth. Purple Punch 2 however has still not gone fully green on me. Rather sad about this cos it's all my bad. She is struggling to catch up but I'm still optimistic with her. Still early days so we'll see.

Purple Punch 1

Purple Punch 2

Gelato 41 Looks a little bothered by the heat. Hope she gets over it.

Cosmic Bomb is at Day 9 and growing very well too. Looks good.

Berry Bomb Still growing funky despite the miraculous comeback! Hopefully she'll give me something.

This THC Bomb is nothing like her sisters. Pretty much just for fun at this point.

Group shot!

This side of the tent does not have the red supplements turned on yet. Plan to start as soon as Cosmic Bomb turns 14 days old. I've repeatedly seen my plants happier when the reds are started from veg. So far, lights are around 310W on this side of the tent. It will eventually be the same on both
sides.

 

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Update time. It has been a week of good growth despite the hellish hot spell we got going on here. Temps reaching above 34C.

Tent got too crowded as expected. Moved 3 plants into the 5×5. Cookies and the Auto Bomb trio.

Gave them all a very weak feed of seaweed extract. Only 100++ppm to help them handle the heat stress better.

Last 2 days was like this

After the move

The 3 gals in their new home

Starting from oldest gal, Dedoverde Haze is at Day 42. Already around 1m tall. Very impressive size and is already drinking a lot

Auto Gorilla Bigfoot and Thin Mint Crack are not being fussy no more. Perhaps they got acclimated to the heat.

First two pics are Auto Gorilla Bigfoot and the other three are Thin Mint Crack. Should begin flowering soon. Around Day 39 or so.

The girls moved into the 5×5 are under some COBs. 2 × 3500K + 1 × Full Spectrum Blurple. Around 360W. I almost forgot COBs Does weird things to pics. Pics in next post.

 

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Pics of Auto Bomb 3 is killing it in a 2 gallon pot. Then we got the flowering Cookies. Finally, Auto Bomb 1 and 2 in their 5 gallon pot.

Sorry for the picture quality but they are in a partial lit 5×5 so lighting conditions ain't the best atm. Things should change after I transplant the photoperiod seedlings into the same tent.

THC Bomb 2 in 1gallon pot is already flowering. Looks good.

Berry Bomb looks funky but making a real comeback. I'm sure she'll produce well. Just need to remember to water these 1 gallon pots. They dry too fast.

New girls are doing good too. First up is Sticky Fingers 1 and 2. 1 is larger than 2. At the moment, seems to be 2 different phenos.
Sticky Fingers 1

Sticky Fingers 2