So my buddy gifted me a pack of Bahama Mama from Solfire Gardens. There were 13 seeds in the pack and they all germinated. All are doing very well and showing excellent vigor.
I have big plans for this strain. Since I have grown the genetics it was made with separately I know it will produce nice flowers. But I also want to find a really nice male and do a bit of breeding. I actually tried to reverse my Black Banana with STS and it made male flowers but there was no pollen. I will be trying again if I can find a good male in this batch of seeds.
How I Germinate Seeds
I always soak my seeds in a shot glass until they sink and that usually happens within 24 hours at most. Then I transfer them to a small plastic container with a lid like the ones lunch meat comes in. I line it with a paper towel and dump the shot glass and seeds into it. Usually there is enough water that I dont need to add any more. The towel should be wet but not soaking in standing water.
I seal the lid. From there I look for a spot with some bottom heat and dont worry about light at all. Seeds dont need to be in the dark to germinate. I put mine on top of my fish tank cover where the water is 80-82 degrees and they will usually have tails within 24 hours but older seeds will sometimes take longer to crack.
Seedlings are fragile so I dont leave them on the napkin for very long. If you do sometimes the roots will start growing into the paper towel.
Then I transplant them root down into 2 or 3 inch pots filled with Canna coco which I feel is the best and most consistent coco. Also I always use the bricks because I feel they are dry and more likely to be free of fungus gnats.
I make sure it is charged with CaliMagic at 300 ppms. It has more calcium and magnesium than other brands and also a bit less N.
If the shells stick to the leaves which sometimes happens I will mist the plants and occasionally I will help a husk off. Otherwise I do not mist seedlings at all. Just give them about 300 micromoles of light and 50+% humidity and it’s off to the races. Never put a dome on seedlings!
BAHAMA MAMA BY SOLFIRE GARDENS GENETICS
This strain is a cross of Black Banana Cookies and Tropicanna Cookies. I have the cuts this strain was made from and have grown them both multiple times and both are permanent residents in my stable.
You can read more about Bahama Mama’s genetics here: https://en.seedfinder.eu/strain-info/Bahama_Mama/Solfire_Gardens/
Here are some Bahama Mama bud shots. They are not mine but I expect good things from my seedlings. I have grown multiple strains from Solfire and they never disappoint.
Bahama Mama Bud Shots – Not Mine
Here are a few pics of this strain. They are not mine but I think they give a good indication of the quality I expect. If they are any indication of what is to come the hardest thing about growing this strain will be deciding on a keeper.
Bahama Mama Day 14
I ended up with 5 girls out of 13 seeds. Not the best M/F ratio but that’s how it goes sometimes. I have 5 smaller cuts also that were taken to determine sex and 5 larger plants. There also are 3 MAC 1 moms in coco and a Tropicanna and a Platinum Candy too.
So 15 plants mostly in growstones in a 2×4 tray with flood and drain. Lighting is an HLG 650R and I have decided to try out House and Garden Aqua Flakes this run. I am happy with my Dutch Master nutes but I like to try new things. H&G is one of the few lines I have never tried and I have friends who get great results with it.
Coming up on a new year so why not try something new. I have never grown Bahama Mama but I have grown both the Tropicanna and Black Banana and they are 2 of my all time favorites so it should be a nice cross. So we will see how the Aqua Flakes does and I will be running their Bud XL and Top Shooter. I am not running any of their other additives. I also run CaliMagic and Power Si Bloom.
YouTube is blocking me from showing my restricted videos. Guess they dont want kids seeing them. You can watch it on my channel though https://youtu.be/fBFxf5Zl1q4
Another change I am making is going to a 50/50 mix of Happy Frog and coco. Been having calmag issues with my moms. The combo of coco and Led lights means using far more calmag than I want and after adding the rest of my nutrients the resulting ppms would be higher than I want in veg. So I am hoping with this mix I wont need as much and reduce ferts and watering a bit too.
House And Garden Nutrients and Bahama Mama Day 21
Things are moving right along and so far the H&G Aqua Flakes are doing a great job. I have a review I did on House and Garden nutrients on my sister site. https://420dotcom.com/house-and-garden-aqua-flakes-review.html You should check it out for more info on H&G.
Meanwhile my plants are a healthy green and frost is starting to show on the Bahama Mama girls.
My MAC 1 is looking better than it has in a long time with the Aqua Flakes. Leaves are not distorted by calcium and magnesium issues and plants are overcoming earlier deficiencies.
YouTube wont show my restricted videos on my site any more but you can watch my day 21 video on my channel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtQCoBU4-mA Please like and subscribe while there!
DAY 28 MAC 1, TROPICANNA, PLATINUM CANDY, BAHAMA MAMA
Things are going well. Plants are just about done stretching although I am still seeing a little bit. Waiting for buds to enlarge. One Bahama Mama is really tall and there is another tall one but a bit shorter. One plant is medium height and has the biggest buds so far. The other 2 are nice but much shorter. Cant wait to see what they all do. Here are pics of the grow:
- Bahama Mama
- Bahama Mama
- Bahama Mama
- Bahama Mama
- Bahama Mama
- Bahama Mama
- MAC 1
- MAC 1
- MAC 1
- MAC 1
- Platinum Candy
- Platinum Candy
- Platinum Candy
- Tropicanna
- Tropicanna
- Tropicanna
- Tropicanna
- H&G lineup
DAY 35 BAHAMA MAMA,MAC 1, TROPICANNA, PLATINUM CANDY
DAY 49 BAHAMA MAMA,MAC 1, TROPICANNA, PLATINUM CANDY
Moving right along on day 49. Will start flushing soon. Bahama Mama is a mix of tall and short plants. The shorter ones lean towards the Black Banana and the taller towards the Tropicanna. The tall ones are stacked really well and will likely be my keepers. Very happy with the House and Garden line and the Top Shooter works well to increase bud growth at the end.
- BAHAMA MAMA
- BAHAMA MAMA
- BAHAMA MAMA
- BAHAMA MAMA
- BAHAMA MAMA
- BAHAMA MAMA
- PLATINUM CANDY
- PLATINUM CANDY
- PLATINUM CANDY
- MAC 1
- MAC 1
- MAC 1
The Color Purple Day 56
The Tropicanna usually starts showing purple around day 50 and I have 2 tall girls with a lot of Tropicanna genetics in them, This past week they really started yo color up. Some buds are elongating like Tropicanna buds do. The rest of the plants lean towards the Black Banana and are shorter with similar bud structure. At this point they are frostier bud I can see trichomes coming on stronger on the the tall ones.
MAC 1 looks good but the buds are small. These were mother plants in coco and I think all the cutting affected them along with some calmag issues in the coco. I have learned this cut really needs a ton of it in veg. Tropicanna was a small plant and is not up to par. Although it looks nice it is underperforming.
Platinum Candy is looking great and I will be doing a full grow of her in the near future. The star of this grow so far. I also have started flushing this week. Some day 56 pictures:
- PLATINUM CANDY
- PLATINUM CANDY
- PLATINUM CANDY
- TROPICANNA
- TROPICANNA
- TROPICANNA
- MAC 1
- MAC 1
- MAC 1
- BAHAMA MAMA
- BAHAMA MAMA
- BAHAMA MAMA