Poorly Planned Grow

[tlpog]

Let me introduce myself

For the longest time, I've had a burning desire to cultivate this beautiful plant. Unfortunately, lacking money, space, and privacy, those late night grow room designs on paper napkins went by the wayside. Backtrack to the beginning of April 08; a man in is resting on the sofa, jamming to some tunes, stoned off his ass, and suddenly a little spark ignites the air above his head. I am that man and this is my journey.

Before starting, I feel it necessary to give a fair bit of warning-- I am missing some crucial equipment and won't be acquiring these items anytime soon, so please bear with me all you purists and perfectionists .

My plants grow on pure rage/hate

I bought a 400 watt HPS ballast and bulb, a 4" inline fan, a carbon filter, and a couple of miscellaneous items from htgsupply.com. I must say, I was quite impressed with the expedience of the online store-- I literally received the items within the week I had placed the order.

I had originally planned to start eight plants until such time four will be destroyed due to sex. Unfortunately, only seven from a handful of seeds sprouted. I am using bagseed ranging from bottom of the barrel, "are you sure this is not oregano", to some pretty good mids. Of course, all the grass that was, what do you kids say these days, the "shits", had no seeds .

YEHAWWWWW!!!

Head towards the light my little babies! <-- insert heart icon. Babies are on a 18/6 cycle.

If you noticed the little white rectangle on the bottom right hand corner of the image above then you are looking too closely . The piece of cardboard the containers are resting on had a shipping label attached complete with my name and address. I'm so glad I caught that-- would have made for a nice sleeping aid at night knowing all my info is "out there"


Lesson #1- round containers waste a lot of space. These pictures were taken a couple of days ago. I've had to euthanize one seedling due to extremely poor growth-- It was basically toast.

Allow me to confuse you

I used two different methods for germination and two different soils-- FYI, I was REALLY stoned when I started this little project. Actually, I tried to adapt the grow to what I considered to be best for the babies.

A stands for Adam
The first batch of seeds, let us now refer to these as batch A, were germinated using the paper towel/tupperware method. At the appropriate time, batch A was transfered to a small set of the biodegradable peat containers, then once more to the round plastic container as seen above. Now here is where you want to scratch your head a bit. Batch A seeds were placed in an organic topsoil with no fertilizers in the peat pots, however STA-GREEN potting mix, with NPK ratio 0.14, 0.11,0.08, was used in the round pot. About ten days have passed since sprouting.



One of three seedlings from batch A.

B stands for Bessie
The second batch of seeds, let us now refer to these us batch B, were germinated using the old-fashioned "direct in soil" method. Batch B was originally placed in peat pots with the STA-GREEN soil mix then to round containers again with STA-GREEN soil mix. About a week has passed since sprouting.


One of three seedlings from batch B

I consume large large doses of mercury

Now why in the world would I use two different types of germination techniques and two different soils? As batch A progressed, I was quite annoyed at the slow percentage of germination and slow growth. By changing germination technique and soil, I replaced low germination and slow growth with an even lower percentage of germination and stretching. Hahahaha...NO I AM FUCKING SERIOUS!!

I am inbreed for obedience and a strong desire to retrieve objects

I am perfectly aware using a soil with fertilizer is strongly advised against. What can I say? The soil with no fertilizer dried up too quickly despite the saran wrap. I suspect the drying is due to the lack of perlite/vermiculite. I am going with my instincts on this one against overwhelming evidence and wisdom . I may change soil once again if the babies start to show signs of nutrient burn. I am also perfectly aware batch B seedlings are stretching. To remedy this problem, I buried about fifty percent of the stem, lowered the light to two feet above the soil, and bought a 12" oscillating fan from wally-world. Pictures will be updated in a couple of days.

I deserve a spanking

If you are a first-time grower like I am, please take this little bit of advice into consideration before you start. DO NOT plan a grow while stoned. When it comes to grass, I am a lightweight. If I haven't been smoking for more than a week, half a bowl will send me straight to la-la land. The citizens of this magical place have no desire to eat nor to provide shelter for themeselves or their loved ones. Companies and corporations in la-la land have no desire to make a profit from their products-- none whatsoever. This is why in la-la land, I can acquire a digital PH tester with a hug and perhaps a peck on the cheek. Unfortunately, as I fly around la-la land, I will occasionally pass this thing called the real world where a digital PH meter cost upwards of $100. If you, the reader, happen to reside in the real world, please do not ask me about the PH of the grow. I am planning to buy a packet of PH strips in a couple of days until I can get a digital PH kit with all the bells and whistles. However, if you happen to be in la-la land, then yes, I have a digital PH meter. It also functions as a microwave, dildo, and will warn me when all the scheming penguins rebel.

I can drive your car into a wall at no cost to you, the consumer

My grow space measures roughly 2.5X8X10 inches. It is a closet in a spare bedroom. The door leading in and out of the closet faces directly to a window. As the sun burns its' nuclear fuel, energy is created in the form of heat and light. Taking about eight minutes, the light travels towards earth, enters the atmosphere, through my window, through my vent holes and under the closet door effectively ruining the crop during flowering. This is why I sat in the dark closet for 15 minutes trying to ascertain if light is coming into the bedroom via the bedroom door or window. After covering the window opening with 2 layers of mylar and a thick black curtain, a hint of light is still able to get through. Any suggestions on making the bedroom/closet light proof without boarding up the window is greatly appreciated.


Duct tape vent holes . Temperatures in the grow space fluctuates between 75-95 degrees Fahrenheit. Humidity fluctuates between 40-60. I will be constructing "real" vents in the near future to better eliminate light, and have greater control over temperature and humidity.


I will also be mounting the carbon filter and fan in the near future for greater efficiency.

Questions

I'm getting pretty tired of typing. I've been reading posts on GC religiously, forgoing sleep, food, and a social life. Since this is my first grow, I have a few basic questions that, obviously, cannot be answered without me posting a journal with pictures and numbers.

#1. A couple of days ago, dragonflies attempted to invade the grow room. I removed most of them with minimal loss of life. I understand dragonflies are actually sought after due to their predatory nature, but will they harm the plants? If so, anybody have suggestions on removing the dragonflies in the future WITH MINIMAL DEATH should they stage a return?
#2. Obviously, I lack CFLs or MHs. Would it be substantially beneficial in this stage of growth to purchase a couple of those Lights of America packages from wally-world to add variety to spectrum? My HPS emits 65k lumens if I remember correctly so I don't think more light in my limited space would be beneficial to growth rate except for the increased spectrum.
#3. The question that I've been dying to ask-- Considering the photos taken were a couple of days ago and the current crop is between 1-2 weeks old, are the seedlings' growth "slow"? I've gone over other grow journals and other babies at 1-2 weeks seem to have at least 3-4 nodes at this stage. These babies are just developing the 2nd node. If the babies are indeed progressing at a sub par rate, would cutting the peat pots open and putting the small lump of soil into the larger container help? I have no experience with these peat pots and I have doubts about my babies' roots punching through the seemingly tough surface of the peat pots. On the other hand, I don't want the babies to start drooping from the stress of a transplant either.

Comments/advice/random gibberish are all appreciated.

Rambling Complete!

[tlpog]

Sickly Babies

Not much time has passed since the last post so I will make this brief. Seedlings are still, in my opinion, growing at an extremely slow rate. Light cycle now on 24/7. Growth from batch B is almost at a standstill, with one baby drooping . I dropped the lights down to a feet due to the stretching in the beginning, but once again raised it back up to two feet due to the drooping and slow growth of batch B. It looks like the Sta-Green soil is taking a toll on the three seedlings. I've decided not to raise the lights any higher due to the fact that the batch A seedlings seem to have a higher rate of growth with lights lowered. Of course, I have no data to back up this claim-- stupid wild guessing again . I am quite pleased with the batch A seedlings, but once again suspect a stunted rate of growth. The PH of all six pots is too basic-- around 7.6. I will try to lower that number in a couple of days. Things have been hectic around here and the babies do not get the attention that they deserve .


The drooping one from batch B.


Another sickly seedling from Batch B. The leaves are curling upwards and growth is extremely slow.



What looks to be a healthy baby from batch A.


My favorite child :P