Hi Folks

I am an old (53) newbie who is trying my hand at the Hydro set ups. Previous experience at SS in compost.


Tried to germinate 10 Northern Lights and 10 Superskunk in Rockwool cubes after soaking rockwool for 48 hours in water at a ph of 5.5. All SS came good but not one NL. Even though they were in the same tray I am lost for a reason and wondered if I have just had a bad lot of seeds. I particularly wanted the NL's to show as I have not been able to get my hands on any for ages. I have 4 (I lost the other 1) seeds left but would ask anyone for help to try and get these to start before I jump in at the deep end again. The seeds are newly bought from SSB so I expected them to do well. All the SS are doing well and are now in their 24th day and are standing proud at 10 inches. They are now rooted and doing well in 3" cubes in a NFT setup.

I would love some expert help to get my NL nuggets to flourish in a similar manner but the loss of the first 10 has got me asking questions.



AL

Try germinating in tissue paper before they go into the cubes, if they aint popped in 2 days try scuffing them
( lining a match box with sandpaper and givin em a gentle shake for a few mins then back onto the wet tissue)
or u may just ave a dodgy batch of seeds dude , it happens.

Good evening!

psittaciformesaviculturist, welcome to growing cannabis!

The Ph for rockwool is correct. The germination conditions seem to be fine. I like to pre soak first the seeds with destiled or rain water for a day. Some people then plant them directly, others prefer to wait the appearance of the first root before plant them.

If all the SS popped but none of the NL did it under the same conditions, it's probably because the NL were old or have been bad stored.

I'd recommend you make a little cut carefully in the NL seeds. When seeds are old sometimes the weak root can not crack the hard seed coat.

SS and NL are not our strains but feel free to ask any doubt. Good luck with your first grow! dubi

If the rest don't pop send ss a polite email they'll probably send u a free pack, i got one off The Flying Dutchman for the same reasons a few months back.

Just a follow up on your advice. The remaining 4 seeds have all popped and have been placed in compost with the seed pod just pushing through on two of them so the seeds have been ok. The others have unfortunately been binned. The tissue has worked for me this time with the NL but I cannot think why the SS should have been different to the NL. Perhaps the shells older/harder and my impatience meant they should have been pushed for a few more days. Oh well you live and learn.

Thanks for the advice and I will treasure the four NL that I have got.

The SS are now doing fine and standing proud at just over 14 inches but wife left water pump off for over 16 hours with some effects. (root Damage) I flushed with water for 10 hours constant then introduced Nuttrients back from day 10. The result has been spot on. Back to normal with great prospects. I am keeping a diary and when I work out how to post it I will do so. Photographs are quite good.

Can anyone help me regards to the posting proceedures?

If you need help regarding posting pictures this might HELP

Sorry forgot to add welcome aboard.

Just thought I would try to add a photograph to get the hang of things. This is my Favourite although it is not the largest of the S/S plants but I love her proportions. We are at day 29. Had a few problems like pump being switched off so I am happy that they are still going strong. The Nutrients are at 980ppm at the moment because of the dry out but they are doing well so the increase of N's is deliberately being slowed. I am using ionic grow and wondered if anyone has any tips. Like advice on clones and when to take them. How drastic can I chop the young parent before causing too much stress. Can anyone advise on the topping proceedure for potential mother clones. What stage to do this and what length will have the greatest result for a healthy clone.

As stated before I have done well with Compost several years ago but this is the first Hydro attempt. Compost guidelines that I used were 7 nodes then cut back to 5 with the clone about 120-180mm. The result from the topping in compost were quite good but I have been reading that there will be spectacular results using Hydro.

I always used the toping as the mother clone from the best proven female and wonder if this still applies in the hydro setup's.

I also wish to flush with clean water for 10 hours every Sunday and complete a Nutrient change after this (while wife is at Bingo). Can anyone see the benefit of this or will it be a negative proceedure.

Now for the breeding question. It is my intention to keep a Northern lights male for pollenation of the 1st Superskunk mother plant for my first generation of Nl/Ss hybrid. Can anyone give me an idea of how stable this future strain will be?

Photo seems to have got lost in my first attempt. Trying again.[attachmentid=85012]