HSO Blue Dream #2

[The Average White Grower]

Hi everyone, I'm back after a lengthy hiatus... If you were following my grow last time around (here), then I welcome you back. If this is your first time reading me, then I say thanks for stopping in and following my progress...

Last summer, I ordered some "Blue Dream" beans via the Attitude Seed Bank from the Humboldt Seed Organisation (HSO). Apparently, this is a hotly-debated breeder, and the BD strain they produce is even more controversial. Let me tell you that no matter what you read, the HSO blue dream will NOT let you down. These feminized seeds came fresh, popped inside of 18 hours, and grew like mad. The yield? WAY better than I was expecting, especially for my first end to end grow... The smoke? Yummy... the effects? Well... it was a local favorite.

I grew my ladies in DWC under a single 600w light. Each started in a 5 gallon bucket, but ended up in custom made reservoirs made from 14 gallon roughneck totes. I used 5" net pots (bucket lid style), GH flora-series nutes, and SCROG (although I waited too long to put the trellis in.. It affected my yield I'm sure, but I had nothing to complain about... I loved doing it, and I was really rewarded come harvest time...

So why mess with a good thing, right? I wish I'd have taken that advice! About 6 months ago, popped a few of my remaining seeds from my original order. The plan was to get a couple mothers going, take some clones and grow them sea of green (SOG). I had hearty mothers, but I fell WAY short in my ability to take viable clones... In short, I wasted a lot of time trying this method...

So here I am again. Only this time, I've brought with me a year's worth of experience with me. Here's what I've learned/changed:

1. Stick with what you know: especially when it works so well... I bought some fresh HSO Blue Dream beans and got them germinated in rockwool about three weeks ago.

2. Think/plan ahead. DWC is a great way for the novice grower to get growing. It's relatively easy to do if you pay attention to your plants and follow the directions. DWC really is black and white. You either do it well, or you don't do it at all. This time, I'm ready for everything my ladies/environment can throw at me. (Sorta... lol)

3. Don't skimp on the hardware. Rather than cheap totes, this time I'm using the Strong Box totes (black with a yellow lid) from Lowes. They're cheap, extremely rugged, and do the job nice. I'm using the bigger 10" net pots this time... I also drilled out a few holes in the top for air hoses. Also, I added water level gauges and a water pump to each reservoir before transplanting my seedlings. SCROG is great, so is DWC, but doing them together makes rez changes difficult at best... I'm ready this time! (see attached)

4. Learn to grow first, then learn how to maximize your yield... This is where I am now. I'm not sure I'm at the gram per watt level yet, but hey... Might as well try, right? And since I'm trying to maximize yield, why not improve lighting? I am now running dual 600w in my 4' x 8' x 6.5' grow tent. Plenty of light for my THREE ladies. I will be doing SCROG again this time too...

I felt a certain amount of responsibility to this forum to keep my posts up to date last time around... I felt obligated to keep you all up to date, so I'm committing to routine updates again. Also, logging the details here regularly will help me keep on top of those details..

The next post will bring you up to date, since I'm already into the grow a few weeks...

 

[The Average White Grower]

Ok, so first update coming later than I wanted, but such is life to interfere... I've been sick, really sick with a sinus infection which has basically knocked me on my ass... No more complaining... On to bigger better things:

So like I said before, I'm a few weeks into my grow and it's already been an adventure... My first grow, I had two plants in 12 gallon DWC buckets (held about 7 gallons of nute solution) under a single 600w HID (MH in veg, HPS in bloom) SCROG. This time, I've got three girls, each in their own 27 gallon buckets (hold about 12 gallons of nute solution - see attached) two air stones each... I doubled my lights to dual 600w HID lights (both MH since I'm in veg)... I will SCROG again, but I have not put the trellis up just yet. I'm going to construct it better this time than I did last time... Last time I used garden fence zip-tied to the supports in my 4' x 8' tent. The plants only used half of the tent though... This time, I'm building a frame from pvc onto each bucket lid so if I HAVE to, I can still move my girls around, although that's probably not going to happen...

So the adventure began with a single air-cooled hood, and a single open-air hood... After about 2 hours of running might lights like that, temps in the tent were above 100 degrees. WAAAY too hot. In fact, some of the first leaves on my girls started to wilt, twist, yellow, and die... I shut off the light with the open reflector until I could get a second air-cooled hood, which I did. So now the setup is:

16"/400CFM Phresh Filter --> 400CFM inline fan --> 600w light --> 600w light --> outside

But even with two air-cooled hoods, and a fan which is exchanging the air in my tent nearly twice per minute... I couldn't get the temps down to less than 90 degrees... The plants responded well... Growth picked up and the leaves stopped wilting, but 90 is still too hot. I checked craigslist for a portable AC unit, which I found for $75... I bought the barely-used 7,000 BTU portable AC unit and installed it in the room outside the tent (10' x 15' x 7', or 1050 cubic ft, which the 7,000 BTU unit should have had no problem cooling). I gave it 24 hours, but noticed only a 2 degree drop inside the tent. 88 is better than 90, which is better than 100+, but still... 75-80 is ideal... The AC unit also vents to the outside, so I moved the unit inside the tent, hoping this would help... Down to 86 degrees, which as long as the tent is closed is as low as I can get the temps inside. I'm baffled and putting it out there for help... Attached are the pics of my set up and a few plant pics... As you can see, the girls look pretty healthy... but I bet they'd be happier if I could get the temps down...

I put my seedlings into their DWC buckets on July 3, so with germination time, we're at almost exactly 4 weeks into this grow... Given the stress in the very beginning, things are looking ok...

 

[DirtyNerd]

Hey bro looking forward to watching your grow

 

[The Average White Grower]

Oh my, I didn't realize it had been so long since I updated this post... I'll let the pics do the talking, but to give you a quick status: Lights are still 24/0 1200w MH in the 4' x 8' tent. I'm growing three fine ladies each in their own 27 gallon DWC (12 gallons per tank)... Things have been pretty normal although I'm having odor control problems... because I have heat problems, I had to introduce a portable AC unit, which vents outside (carrying odor with it)... I'll be moving that AC unit to the room outside the tent to help keep temps down and keep the air flowing out of the tent strictly through the Phresh carbon filter...

I changed out the nutes last night from veg formula to the GH transition to bloom formula... I'm changing the lights over to 2 x 600w HPS 12/12 tomorrow night... I'll switch over to full bloom formula sometime this weekend.

Here are some pics for you (see attached)

7-28-2014


8-4-2014


8-5-2014


8-6-2014


8-7-2014


8-10-2014


8-13-2014








Homemade Bucket Aero cloner
I also started this project for propagation sake... I haven't taken any cuttings yet... tomorrow night will be the night... I've had 0% success with aero cloning, so heres' hoping...

 

[DirtyNerd]

Awesome bro they are looking great!

this is now where the fun starts keep tucking them bitches under in stretch

 

[The Average White Grower]

I flipped the lights about 6 nights ago... Time for the streeeetch! I was about 2/3 full on my screen when I flipped them... I'm praying the stretch is about over in the next day or two... I'm out of room on the screen!!! It smells like fruity pebbles in there and I can't wait to see the field of flowers yet to come... I had to take my AC unit out in favor of the dehumidifier... The AC vented outside unfiltered... and this HSO Blue Dream strain gets to be REALLY potent really quickly... Temps might be an adventure, but I'd rather deal with heat than humidity during this stage of the growth cycle...

Some more pics for ya...



And the bucket cloner I made is getting a workout...



Two of the four (with the darker leaves) have been in the aero cloner between 3 and 5 days... The other two cuttings were taken tonight... The older two are swelling and I can see the white beginnings of the root system... I'm excited because over the winter, I built a 35 site cloner in a big toe which failed to produce even a single root in the 3 runs I put through it... If this works, it will be my first successful aeroponics cloning success!

The problem right now is that I have only one grow space, which is currently flowering the plants above... When they're done, I'll hang up the buds to dray in there... So I'm looking like almost 3 months before I can get these cuttings into the grow space...

I'm going to take the most vigorous clone out of the bucket and turn her into a mother... Maybe I'll build a really small (1-2 gallon) DWC bucket... I'm going to keep her alive under CFLs, so I want her to stay small... If that doesn't seem to pan out, I'll put her in soil...

 

[DirtyNerd]

Haha Looking good bro don't think the stretch is going to stop anytime soon should have a week or so more looking nice can't wait to watch the show now!

 

[akhiymjames]

Man bro I have to say these girls are looking very very good. You got the DWC going really good and you got them dialed in very well. I'm running a single plant HSO Blue Dream right now in a recirculating hempy style in all perlite. Mines is looking pretty good but yours look amazing.

Tell me what ppm did you feed the ladies during veg and pH? I'm just curious always trying to learn especially since we have the same strain running and I'm not experienced with hydro. I'm really excited to see how yours is gonna do. Looking awesome bro you got that screen just about filled great work. Gonna be rewarded with some nice buds

 

[MediToker]

I'm working on about my third run of HSO's Blue Dream. I also grow HSO's Sour Diesel #2 and am damn happy with both. Zero issues with either fem'd seeds. The Blue Dream is currently my fav strain. It smells amazing (Hazey), the buds are numerous and HUGE. Big yielder, not too picky. Thick canopy, awesome smell. I do organic soil (Roots Organic Original) and use R-O nute line. No hermies so far, nor other probs. I recommend either of these HSO strains. Apologies for the lack of white balance. The buds are from one BD plant, vegged for about 7 weeks, flowered in a size 30 smart pot, lollipopped, topped twice and a bit of supercropping.

 

[The Average White Grower]

Man bro I have to say these girls are looking very very good. You got the DWC going really good and you got them dialed in very well. I'm running a single plant HSO Blue Dream right now in a recirculating hempy style in all perlite. Mines is looking pretty good but yours look amazing.

Tell me what ppm did you feed the ladies during veg and pH? I'm just curious always trying to learn especially since we have the same strain running and I'm not experienced with hydro. I'm really excited to see how yours is gonna do. Looking awesome bro you got that screen just about filled great work. Gonna be rewarded with some nice buds

I'm not paying as much attention to ppm this grow as I did last time... Knowing the strain and the method of growing, I know that if I follow the Gen. Hydro 3-part flora series formula, I get good results. During veg, I used the 1/4 strength formula from newly-sprouted seedling until the first few roots find their way down into the water on their own. Then I bumped it up to 1/2 strength for a week before switching to the "mild vegetative growth" formula until my screen was 2/3 full. Then I switched to the "transition" formula until my bucket needed topped off. Before topping them off, I drained them and switched to bloom formula. Each of my three buckets gets 12 gallons of plain tap water. It makes the chemistry easy for me. Full-strength veg = 1/4 cup of each (Grow, Micro, Bloom). Full-strength bloom = 1/4 cup Grow, 1/2 cup micro, 3/4 cup bloom...

My tap water is anywhere from 7.1 - 7.4 ph, so after adding nutes, I have to phDown a bit to get my water at the 5.8 I like. It's a chore in scrog since I can't remove the top I have a pump inside each bucket for drainage, but I also use the pump to stir my solution... In 12 gallons, it can take a while for the phDown to completely mix into the solution... My next (perpetual) grow won't have the same problem... I'm going to do a DWC sea of green.... I'll have a mother growing in one tent, a veg closet with one tote like I'm using now... But instead of one 10" net pot, I'll have probably 8 or 10 4" net pots in each tote lid... I'll veg them for two weeks, then put them into my DWC flower room.... I tried an ebb and grow/flood drain system, but I like DWC better, and I'm much better using it than soil or flood/drain. I'll just keep doing that, but in a perpetual system...

 

[The Average White Grower]

I'm working on about my third run of HSO's Blue Dream. I also grow HSO's Sour Diesel #2 and am damn happy with both. Zero issues with either fem'd seeds. The Blue Dream is currently my fav strain. It smells amazing (Hazey), the buds are numerous and HUGE. Big yielder, not too picky. Thick canopy, awesome smell. I do organic soil (Roots Organic Original) and use R-O nute line. No hermies so far, nor other probs. I recommend either of these HSO strains. Apologies for the lack of white balance. The buds are from one BD plant, vegged for about 7 weeks, flowered in a size 30 smart pot, lollipopped, topped twice and a bit of supercropping.

Looking good man... I topped my ladies once each with plans to do at least a second round, but I didn't need to. They grew so fast, I put the screen up before I could have topped them again. Yea, I have no complaints about the HSO blue dream.... I know some people scoff at HSO for not being the real blue dream, but this stuff is hearty, predicable, potent as hell, tastes yummy, super forgiving during the grow, and the yield is amazing. I have no complaints. I guess it's like the charcoal purists who take shots at gas grilling!

 

[The Average White Grower]

Might as well post a quick update....

My phone died last night while taking pics... It was only after my phone died that I noticed the first pistils coming in... I've been in flower for a little over a week now. My ladies are taking up anywhere from 1.5 - 2.0 gallons per day, which makes maintenance a pain, but my screen is just about full, so unless I fuck it up, the yield should be WELL worth the hassle

As I mentioned in a reply above, I'm not nearly concerned with the actual PPM's I know this strain and the method. Unless I royally screw it up, things should run smoothly.

It feels like the stretch is just about over... I'll be lollipopping over the next week. It's a mess under there and the fan leaves below the canopy are wilting and dying anyhow... Which is a good thing; I have lush and thick canopy!

My clones are looking good too. I have five cuttings in the aero cloner... The first two are looking like cauliflower on the bottom, so next time I check them, there could be full on roots. The others are looking fantastic as well, but no swelling or root popping yet. I'm confident though... I'll take the heartiest one of the clones I have and she will be the mother for my next perpetual grow. I have big big plans

Just a pic today... The screen is virtually full

 

[akhiymjames]

I can see why you don't stress ppms too much with this strain as she's strong and can take a lot but doesn't need a lot. I'm using about the same strength with the CYCO nutes I'm using but I overdose her with N so I cut the N adds out as she has plenty in her. I noticed that this girl likes the pH in 5.5-6.2 range so that's what I been keeping her at. I'm not experienced with hydro but time will change that.

The ladies are looking awesome man. You really do know this strain. I wish I had more room so I could keep a mother of this lady cus she's really easy and I've seen the results but I can always get her again. Moving on to some other strains I have but still haven't figured out what I wanna grow lol. I've always wanted to do a perpetual grow so I could harvest every couple weeks or every month. Next year I'm moving so I may be able to do it. I hope you chronicle your perpetual grow as I would love to see it. Keep it up bro and soon enough your gonna have a screen full of gorgeous buds!!!

 

[MediToker]

I'm not paying as much attention to ppm this grow as I did last time... Knowing the strain and the method of growing, I know that if I follow the Gen. Hydro 3-part flora series formula, I get good results. During veg, I used the 1/4 strength formula from newly-sprouted seedling until the first few roots find their way down into the water on their own. Then I bumped it up to 1/2 strength for a week before switching to the "mild vegetative growth" formula until my screen was 2/3 full. Then I switched to the "transition" formula until my bucket needed topped off. Before topping them off, I drained them and switched to bloom formula. Each of my three buckets gets 12 gallons of plain tap water. It makes the chemistry easy for me. Full-strength veg = 1/4 cup of each (Grow, Micro, Bloom). Full-strength bloom = 1/4 cup Grow, 1/2 cup micro, 3/4 cup bloom...

My tap water is anywhere from 7.1 - 7.4 ph, so after adding nutes, I have to phDown a bit to get my water at the 5.8 I like. It's a chore in scrog since I can't remove the top I have a pump inside each bucket for drainage, but I also use the pump to stir my solution... In 12 gallons, it can take a while for the phDown to completely mix into the solution... My next (perpetual) grow won't have the same problem... I'm going to do a DWC sea of green.... I'll have a mother growing in one tent, a veg closet with one tote like I'm using now... But instead of one 10" net pot, I'll have probably 8 or 10 4" net pots in each tote lid... I'll veg them for two weeks, then put them into my DWC flower room.... I tried an ebb and grow/flood drain system, but I like DWC better, and I'm much better using it than soil or flood/drain. I'll just keep doing that, but in a perpetual system...

 

[MediToker]

There are a lot of people on RIU who dig the flora series. Gotta stop changing the room first, but I'm gonna try it.

I look forward to trying hydro, but I think I'm still too sloppy, and I fear killing everything.

 

[MediToker]

Might as well post a quick update....

My phone died last night while taking pics... It was only after my phone died that I noticed the first pistils coming in... I've been in flower for a little over a week now. My ladies are taking up anywhere from 1.5 - 2.0 gallons per day, which makes maintenance a pain, but my screen is just about full, so unless I fuck it up, the yield should be WELL worth the hassle

As I mentioned in a reply above, I'm not nearly concerned with the actual PPM's I know this strain and the method. Unless I royally screw it up, things should run smoothly.

It feels like the stretch is just about over... I'll be lollipopping over the next week. It's a mess under there and the fan leaves below the canopy are wilting and dying anyhow... Which is a good thing; I have lush and thick canopy!

My clones are looking good too. I have five cuttings in the aero cloner... The first two are looking like cauliflower on the bottom, so next time I check them, there could be full on roots. The others are looking fantastic as well, but no swelling or root popping yet. I'm confident though... I'll take the heartiest one of the clones I have and she will be the mother for my next perpetual grow. I have big big plans

Just a pic today... The screen is virtually full

View attachment 3236796

 

[MediToker]

Damn, that is BEAUTIFUL! Nice work!

 

[The Average White Grower]

Well, things are going well... I'm still dealing with some atmospheric stuff, but I think I'll be ok... I had to swap out the AC unit for the dehumidifier (I think I mentioned that) because the AC unit just didn't seem to be worth it's salt. The dehumidifier is struggling to keep up and humidity is higher than I'd like, but I'm doing the best I can... Humidity is somewhere between 60% and 70% depending on the RH outside... It's been humid the past week, so it's been closer to 70%, but nothing seems to be worse for the wear. Temps are higher than I like, but even that seems to not have an impact so far. I think I'll be ok, and with cooler temps on the way, the fall/winter should improve conditions for me.

The plants are doing very well... lots of delicious buds and even some trichs coming in already. I flipped to 12/12 on 8/15, so I'm only like 3+ weeks in... Why not just show the pics and be done... My head is a little too clear for a Friday night...

 

[The Average White Grower]

There are a lot of people on RIU who dig the flora series. Gotta stop changing the room first, but I'm gonna try it.

I look forward to trying hydro, but I think I'm still too sloppy, and I fear killing everything.

I know soil gives your that "buffer" but it also let's you be sloppy... Hydro forces you to stay focused... I check on my girls once per day... I adjust pH and empty out my dehumidifier... When the tanks get low, I refill and re- pH them with tap water. Once per week I drain my tanks and give them new nutes (simply following the instructions on the bottles)

I try to not overthink it... But like I said, Hydro won't let you get lazy...

 

[akhiymjames]

I know soil gives your that "buffer" but it also let's you be sloppy... Hydro forces you to stay focused... I check on my girls once per day... I adjust pH and empty out my dehumidifier... When the tanks get low, I refill and re- pH them with tap water. Once per week I drain my tanks and give them new nutes (simply following the instructions on the bottles)

I try to not overthink it... But like I said, Hydro won't let you get lazy...

Awesome work buddy. Looking very green and healthy. Looks like you got some very sativa phenos as those leaves would indicate. What's she smelling like bro?

I can def say you are not lying about hydro will make you work. I haven't done this much work with a plant never. I like it those cus it allows me time with the girl. Watching and monitoring, it's been a fun experience so far and I will continue on my hydro journy.