Back In Black

I am back after a brief hiatus. After my last diaries I didn't grow for a couple months and evaluated my grow techniques and took a short vacation. I added some lights, reorganized and started with a new plan to do a perpetual grow. I started back in June with some of Fast Buds new strains. First up was 2 Lemon AK (LAK) and a Zkittlez (Z). I put the LAK in the hempy buckets and Z went in the soil bag. Every 3 weeks I started 3 more seeds until my space was full and I was harvesting 2 or 3 plants every 3 weeks. But because Fast Buds are ready in 8 to 9 like advertised I now germinate every 2 weeks. At first I planned a 10 to 12 week cycle but soon learned 8 to 10 weeks is working. I love Fast Buds genetics, I have never had any duds, 100% germ rate, 100% female and 100% AWESOME genetics. If they didn't make it to harvest it was grower error. If I grow any other genetics it's because they were the freebies (RQS Royal Cookies and I got some Expert Seeds GG#4 automatics). I recently got some FB Gelato, Purple Lemonade (PL), Blackberry (BB) and more Z. I'm starting with the BB and will start another strain in 2 weeks. I may also throw in updates of some of the other plants in the grow as it moves along. Just to, back up a little and tell y'all about my set up. I have an 8' x 8' x 9' grow room. Closed system with AC/heat, dehumidifier, fans, air purifier, CO2 and internal carbon filter. I recently added a 2' x 4' x 9' drying and curing room with its own AC/heat, dehumidifier/humidifier and inline fan because I am placing plants in the dark for 48 hrs and harvesting every 2 weeks. I built it like a grow room incase I expand and want to grow photoperiods. I built both rooms from 2x3s, 2x2s, panda plastic, rigid foam insulation, deck screws, other odds and ends and lots of duct tape (Warning: do not use Gorilla Tape). The lighting is a Black Diamond (BD) COB (675w) and 10 CobShop AutoCobs , 8-3500k, 1-3000k, 1-2700k (60w each, 600w total). I have 4-3500s and a 2700k (red spectrum for flower), 300w total in a 3x3 area for the organic section. The hempy bucket section is 4x8 (try to keep about 3x6) and has 4-3500s, 1-3000k (blue spectrum for veg), 300w, and the BD COB for 975w total. I have plenty of room and could add more lights if needed but right now I'm still learning to use what I have and control the size of the plants. I did experiment with different techniques over the summer, topping, main lining and hst. I found I got better yields and the plants finish faster if I just do some lst and defoliation. I'll be retiring in a couple weeks and I'll be able to spend more time in the garden and improve things even more. So excited! Anyway, I'm looking forward to growing this BB and the Purple Lemonade. I will first try them organically in soil since the colors are always better that way and I can see how they grow. I started the BB differently this time around. I have found that germination is the most critical time in the plants life. I have also found that the biggest issue I have seen is that the shells don't always want to come loose and need a little help. It can be dangerous though, I knocked one of the cotyledons off the BB and slowed down its growth. So, this time I tried soaking the seed for about 18 hrs hoping it would crack the seed open and soften the shell hinge. It cracked open but I don't think it helped otherwise. Then I placed it in a RO water soaked coffee filter rather than a paper towel for about 48 hrs. The tap was out but the shell was still wrapped tight. I pried it off and damaged the cotyledon. I still placed it in the rapid start pod knowing it would be okay. I just slowed it down. After a couple days in the pod the roots came through the bottom and I placed it in its final pot yesterday. She is looking healthy. This may be the fastest way so far, germinate in a wet towel, place in rapid pod, place in soil. I use to put them straight in the soil but had trouble with seed shells not coming off as they pull their heads out of the soil and then having to try and manipulate it without pulling it out of the soil. I would like to hear how others germinate. The grow bag is 5 gallons. I am using a supersoil technique. The bottom 1/3 is a Coco, perlite and Nature's Living Soil mixture. Top 2/3 is Coast of Maine Platinum or premium growers mixture (1st time using this stuff). It should be good for the whole 8 weeks so all I have do is add RO water. But just incase, after 30 days I will start adding Coast of Maine Squid extract to the water for a couple weeks, then go back to RO water only the last 2 weeks of flower. We will see how it goes in about 8 or 9 weeks. So, it's really only day 2 (as of the time of the pictures) of the first week. I always start my day 1 on Friday, 11/29 (in this case). I'll may update week 1 later this week if needed, otherwise I'll see y'all next week. Thanks for tuning in and turning on everyone. Please press 'Like'. All questions and comments are encouraged and welcome. Peace.