GANJI'S GROW JOURNAL -- Day 173

Bought the stuff I needed to finish the upgrades to the garden this week. Picked up the wick filter for the humidifier at the local home center. Installed it and fired the unit up with a full tank of water. Found a 400 watt metal halide bulb while I was there as well. Couldn’t believe the luck. Thought I’d have to order it online or make a trip out of town to the nearest grow supply shop 70 miles away. Unplugged the fixture and replaced the old bulb. Took some measurements and found the new bulb to be three times more intense. Hung it horizontally as the box said it could be mounted in any position and I discovered that it throws more light out the sides than out the top or bottom. Keeping it a couple feet away from the clones until they get used to the intensity of the new bulb. This bulb replacement was also long overdue. As you can see, the new bulb is much more intense and should increase the plants' growth rate significantly. HID bulbs operating 24 hours a day will lose intensity over time and should be replaced every 6-8 months as a part of your routine maintenance program. Ganji found a bulb that can operate in any position and has discovered that it works best mounted horizontally. Check before you purchase a bulb. Some must be operated in the vertical position and will require a good hood to direct the light down onto the plants. He’s also allowing the plants to acclimate to the new bulb by keeping it at a distance for a while, which is a good idea as it’s three times more intense than the old one and could damage the sensitive foliage of the fresh cuttings if it were too close. --MAX

Also picked up some Shultz 10-50-10 bloom fertilizer for the flowering plants. Mixed 1 teaspoon per gallon of water and added the mix to each plant. I plan on fertilizing the flowering plants with this mix every two weeks.

Ganji’s decided to supplement his soil mix periodically during the flowering phase with chemical fertilizer. This may or may not be a good thing. Chemical fertilizer is highly concentrated and could toxify the soil if used too much or too often, particularly when used in conjunction with organic fertilizers in the soil. It would be a good idea to flush the containers to leach out any excess nutrients in the soil before applying chemical fertilizer. --MAX

Replaced a couple more clones in each of the tubs this week and transplanted the three potted ones into the large containers: 1 Sweet Tooth and 2 NL#9’s. It’s been two weeks since the other three plants went into the flowering chamber, so I thought about moving these three in right away to get the perpetual harvest going but decided against it. They’re still small and I won’t have anything ready to go after them for a while. I’ll wait another two weeks to move them into the flowering chamber. That will give them time to get established and give the cloning tubs a chance to catch up to the rotational schedule I’ve set up.

Sounds like a prudent move. No sense trying to speed things along and getting ahead of yourself. Setting up a perpetual harvest takes time. Everything from cloning to harvest has to be coordinated. By waiting a couple weeks, Ganji will assure himself enough clones of the right size to start the perpetual harvest well. --MAX