Tony's #10 - Cream Caramel, Kandy Kush, Crit. Jack & Sadhu

This is my 10th grow since I started getting serious and keeping records back in 2006. Before that I had taken a few years off, and before that I've been growing semi-seriously since the early 80s.


Since I've only been growing with purchased seeds for a short time, I'm still trying to find new and interesting strains. This time it's something new and something old. Today I started the following in paper towels:

• 1 Sweet Seeds Cream Caramel Feminized

• 2 Reserva Privada Kandy Kush Feminized

• 1 Dinafem Seeds Critical Jack Feminized

• 4-6 Mandala Sadhu

I had planned to go all feminized this time to use my space more efficiently, but I really like the Sadhu and didn't get too much last time. I said 4-6 because 2 of the seeds were from a batch that got a bit smashed. I kept these because they were only slightly cracked, so we'll see. Of the others, 2 were from a batch I got in '09 and two from a batch from '10. I've got room for about 6 flowering plants, so I'm hoping to get 1 or 2 Sadhu.


That's it for now. I'll post a detailed description of my set up next, then regular updates as things progress. So please drop by for another visit.

 

My Set Up


Unfortunately, I can't get a good picture of the cabinet, so this 3D rendering will have to do. The space is so narrow I only have about an inch clearance when I open the doors, which means I can't get far enough back to get the whole cabinet in a picture.





I'm using a standard double-wide wardrobe, about 48" w x 72" h x 18" d. I left the top shelf in and took out the vertical divider. In the top compartment I have a Panasonic Whisperline 240 CFM fan pulling through a homemade carbon filter. A power strip and the timers are also in the top compartment. I cut a hole in the left side of the shelf for intake from the grow area. In the chamber below I have two darkroom louvres for input on the right side (opposite the exhaust hole in the shelf). For circulation, I have 2 PC fans -- one on the left side blowing upwards, and one blowing on the lights. The entire inside of the grow area is painted flat white.


I'm currently using a single 400-w HPS bulb in a Super Sun 2 reflector. I have an EYE Metal Ace MH bulb for veg, and an EYE Hortilux HPS bulb for flower. I have the one PC fan blowing into the right side of the reflector, and some ducting on the left (not shown) taking the air up into the top chamber. The reflector is on chains so I can adjust its height as necessary. That's the ballast sitting on top of the cabinet.


I can fit eight 3-gal grow bags in my cabinet, but only have room for about 5-6 mature plants. The bags are sitting on a piece of eggcrate for drainage, and underneath the bags the bottom is lined with a piece of heavy drop-cloth plastic. My medium is organic soil. I started with Fafard's soil in the purple bag, which has no additives. It lists its ingredients as top soil - 75%, compost - 15%, and peat moss - 10%. I like it better than MG organic soil, which is the only other organic soil I can get around here. It is a very rich, dark soil (with no gnats). To it I add perlite (about 5 to 1, soil to perlite), a little vermiculite, bone meal (flower), blood meal, ground egg shell, epsom salts, dolomitic lime, kelp meal, and the dried, ground-up leaves from my previous harvest. The seedling mix, in 16 oz plastic cups, is just straight Fafard's with some perlite added to it.


For ferts I'm trying General Organics BioThrive for the first time. Here's the info provided by the manufacturer:

• G.O. BioThrive Grow(N-P-K = 4-3-3) Base Vegetative formula + micros (Mg 0.5%, B 0.01%, Cu 0.01%, Fe 0.1%, Mn 0.03%, Mo 0.002% and Zn 0.01%)

• G.O. BioThrive Bloom (N-P-K = 2-4-4) Base Bloom formula + micros (Mg 0.5%, B 0.01%, Cu 0.01%, Fe 0.1%, Mn 0.03%, Mo 0.002% and Zn 0.01%)

I still have some Metanaturals calcium supplement left that I'll use if needed. I also add molasses to my regular water about every other watering during flower. Since Mandala's strains require little in the way of feeding, I'll probably fertilize them maybe once or twice during veg (4-6 weeks). I'm pretty sure the rest will have bigger appetites.


With any luck, within the next few days I should be reporting on some popped seeds.

 

Seeds Are Poppin'


As of this morning, the Cream Caramel, Critical Jack, and Kandy Kush have all cracked and are in soil. In addition, the CC, CJ, and one KK have made an appearance above soil. Not bad for three days.


So far only 2 of the Sadhu have popped. Not too surprising, since I've had really poor germination rates with all three batches of Sadhu that I've purchased. I wasn't really expecting the smashed seeds to germinate, but I was hoping for better than 50% with the other four. I'll give them a few more days before I give up hope.


I'm really glad to be growing again. These past few months I've been suffering empty cabinet syndrome (the weed-growing equivalent of empty nest syndrome). Plus I'm trying out some new strains that I'm very excited about. From what I've been reading, all three of those new strains should be outstanding. Plus I love the Sadhu. So it's all good.

 

Grabbing a seat here. It will be cool to see how your Kandy Kush turns out. I'm doing it outside right now.

 

opcorn-2: opcorn-2:

 

I wish I could grow outside. Your plants are so big and bushy! Since your KK will finish before mine, I look forward to hearing about yours.

 

I was really looking at that kandy kush....I ended up getting the og kush 18, can't wait to see how your grow turns out.

 

Sprouts


As of today, I think everybody who was going to do anything already has. Here are the sprouts I have, along with some info about their lineage and flowering time, in case anybody's interested:

• 3 Mandala Sadhu: land race genetics from North India (Kashmir), 62-64 days

• 1 Sweet Seeds Cream Caramel (fem): BlueBlack x Maple Leaf Indica x White Rhino, 56-65 days

• 2 Reserva Privada Kandy Kush (fem): OG Kush x Trainwreck, 56-63 days

• 1 Dinafem Critical Jack (fem): Critical+ x Jack Herer, 60-75 days

So, all four of my new, feminized seeds germinated and sprouted. Plus, 3 out of 4 of my older Sadhu seeds. (I put the last Sadhu in a cup of soil, just in case.) With luck, I'll get at least one Sadhu female.


My recent seed order had a bit of variety, both in what I ordered and what I got for freebies (CJ was a freebie). It was really tough deciding what to grow first, but I ended up picking strains that should finish at about the same time. And now I'm set with something new to try for my next few grows. Should have plenty of world-class smoke for some time to come.

 

As a fellow fem seed grower, I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with your lineup, it looks like you have some quality genetics :thumbs-up: opcorn-2:


asssit:

 

First Photos


Too early for photos? Probably. Who cares?





Not that it matters as they all look alike at this point, but those two in back are the Kandy Kush, left front is Cream Caramel, and right front is Critical Jack.





And these are the Sadhu. That one in back just came up yesterday and had a seed coat still attached. So it hasn't spread its wings just yet.


In case you're wondering, I just have the one cabinet so it's veg and flower combined (not at the same time). I've already filled the 3-gal bags with my soil mix and started watering them. The bags are sitting on the bottom of the cabinet, and the seedling cups are sitting on top of the soil in the bags. So yes, that is soil that you're seeing below the cups. The light is currently raised as high as it will go.


Have I mentioned how good it is to be growing again?

 

Nice selection! I'm definitely pulling up a seat Good luck with the Sadhu - I'm still dying to try it!

 

Update @ Day 11


Here we are at day 11 already, and the little ones are no longer so little. Amazing what a difference a week makes. Here's what they look like today:





All are doing very well (they look a little yellow in the photo, but NOT in real life). They are all very healthy and very compact. The CC and CJ have about a one day lead on the others, but I'm not sure that alone accounts for their difference in size. Compared to my last batch, which didn't seem to want to grow, these young-uns' are looking phenomenal!


I just noticed that most now have roots showing through the holes in the bottoms of the cups, so that means it's about time to transplant. I'll probably do that in the next day or so, as soon as I can find the time. And then I hope they really take off. I only have about 5 weeks of veg time for this grow (need to be done and jarred before the holidays), so I want them to get as big as they can as fast as they can.


It's good to be growing!

 

Transplant @ Day 13


It was definitely time for a transplant. All had some roots poking out through the holes in the bottoms of the cups. The Cream Caramel and Sadhu in particular turned out to be pretty rootbound. Not too surprising with the Sadhu, as all of Mandala's strains grow massive roots.


Here's the whole gang a few hours after transplant. I remembered to do a white balance this time, so the colors are more accurate. As you can see, they are almost all perked up again after their ordeal, and looking ready to start growing some serious roots.





You can see the markers in the picture, but just in case, they are, left to right: Critical Jack, Cream Caramel, two Kandy Kush, and the three on the right are Sadhu.


They look a bit lost in those 3-gal bags right now. But in a week, you'll hardly recognize them. Please stay tuned.

 

Update @ Day 18


It's only been 5 days, but already the little ones are making the most of their new homes. As you can see in the photo, they look quite a bit different than they did when I transplanted them.





We have the Critical Jack and Cream Caramel on the left, the two Kandy Kush in the middle, and the 3 Sadhu on the right. I try to put the taller ones (or the ones I think will get taller) on the far edges so they don't block the shorter ones, and so far it looks like I've guessed correctly. The CJ and one Sadhu are currently the tallest, but that's not saying much. These plants are experiencing the exact opposite of stretch.


Not much else to say at this point. So far they've gotten only plain water, plus a little molasses after the transplant. Of course the soil in the bags is amended, so it's not like they're starving. But I'll probably give them some ferts the next watering or the one after that. Don't really know what to expect with this new brand of ferts. We'll see.

 

Looking great Tony. Ill be watching


opcorn-2: opcorn-2:

 

Update @ Day 22


I usually try to update this log about once a week, but in the last couple of days there have been some developments. A couple of the plants are suddenly starting to show some vertical growth. Compare this photo to the one taken just four days ago.





The angle on this photo is a little lower so you can see their height a bit better. The Critical Jack (far left) and one Sadhu (far right) have literally over night turned into Stretchy McStretchertons. You can also see the Kandy Kush in the rear is also getting a bit taller than its sibling.


On the other hand, the Cream Caramel is about as compact as it could be. It also has the most lateral development of the bunch. Can't really see in this photo, but it has some pretty well-developed side branches. The others are somewhere in between these two extremes.


Also this week I gave them their first (low) dose of the General Organics BioThrive grow formula. Not that that's related to the sudden growth, as I fed them after the stretching started.

 

asssit: man I am digging this thread! what is your soil mix Tony?

 

Thanks!


My soil mix is described in detail in the second post in this thread. It's just plain Fafard's (purple bag) with pretty typical organic amendments.

 

Duh! :flyy: sorry...

 

Update Day 29


I'd say the little ones are starting to hit their growth spurt. Every day now they look bigger and bushier than the day before. They hardly look like the same plants in the photo taken a week ago.





The Critical Jack and the one Sadhu (far right) are still leading the pack in height. So much so that I topped both of them this week. They need to slow down a bit and let the others catch up so I can put the SCROG screen in in the next couple of weeks.


At the other extreme, a Sadhu is now the shortest of the group (rear, second from right), beating out the previous shortness leader, the Cream Caramel. Not that the CC is not growing. It is literally a solid bush. Looking at it from the side, you can't see through it.


You might also notice that the Kandy Kush look a little droopy. The lights had only been on about an hour before this photo was taken, and those two are always the slowest to perk up. In another hour or two, their leaves will be standing at attention like the rest.


One other thing, the three Sadhu all look a bit different. The shortest one is very stocky and has very wide leaves. The other too are quite a bit taller and have narrower leaves. Not sure if these are two or three different phenos. The two times I've grown Sadhu before, I ended up with only one female each time, so I don't really know how many different phenos, if any, I can expect. If I had to guess, I'd say the two taller ones are male and female of the same pheno.


Last but not least, all four of the feminized plants (all but the Sadhu) are showing preflowers. Female preflowers! It looks like the tallest Sadhu is starting to show some little nubs, but nothing very definitive yet. No sign of anything on the other two Sadhu.


I'd say about another 1-2 weeks more of veg before flipping. Once most of the lower branches make it up to the height of the SCROG screen, I'll flip to 12/12, and put in the screen soon after. Since I know at least four are going to be females, it's not such a big deal putting the screen in early. I just hate to put the screen in, then have to remove males later. Ends up wasting space.


More to come, so please stay tuned.