I decided to start another grow journal, since my first grow was a failure. I have proper equipment and supplies now, so this time around should be much better. The seeds are still germinating, so I'll post pics after they pop. I have 6 Sativa's growing right now, but I'll probably end up killing most of them to make room for the new ones. The plants I have right now came from an outdoor patch I found last summer (it wasn't ditch weed, I suspect someone planted some seeds there a long time ago and they just keep coming back) and I'm just not confident they'll be worth my time. So today I acquired 43 bag seeds from a friend who goes through quite a bit of bud. I have no idea what any of them are, but all his shit is super dank, so I know these seeds will definitely be better than what I have now. They're also most likely Indica, which will be more suitable for my space. Here's what I'm working with: -22"x36"x63" grow tent -400 watt HID system (MH for veg, HPS for flowering) -DIY cool tube reflector (which will be replaced by an Apollo cool tube as soon as it comes in the mail) -Two 6" inline fans for cool tube ventilation -One 4" inline fan for tent exhaust -One small clip-on fan -One 12" floor fan -Roots Organic Potting Soil -Roots Organic nutrients (Buddha Grow, Buddha Bloom, Amino-aide, Trinity, and Big Swell) -Peat moss pots for seedlings So I picked out 5 of the best looking bag seeds and started germinating them using the paper towel method. The pH of the water I used to mist them with is 6.6. I have them in a tupperware container inside my tent, and the temp fluctuates between 75 and 85 depending on time of day. I'll be getting some square pots this week to maximize use of space. I'll be using LST, and possibly SCROG. This grow should do much better then my previous attempts.
Alright, 4 of the seeds germinated, and the taproots are all looking great. One thing I did differently this time was I let the taproots grow out before planting them, instead of just planting as soon as I saw a little nub sticking out. I decided to use the grow bags that came with my tent. They're 3 gallon bags, but I didn't fill them all the way...maybe a little over 2 1/2 gallons of dirt was used in each one. I also kept the biggest and smallest Sativa seedlings and put those in bags. It was kinda hard to kill the other ones, but it had to be done :/ Oh yeah! My cool tube came in the mail!! It seems to be working a lot better than the one I made. The temp is staying cooler, and you can actually touch the tube - it doesn't burn your hand like my other one did. It must be a better kind of glass or something. It's also about twice as big. More coverage is always better. I'll update with some pics tonight.
Here's some pics. I can get some Plant Warrior Pots tomorrow, but I already planted the seeds...would it be worth it to do this, or should I just keep them going? If you don't know what those are, here's a link to what I'd be getting 3 Gallon Plant Warrior Pot
I started LST on the bigger of the two a couple days ago, and it's responding really well! I just took a small piece of pipe cleaner, made it into a hook, bent the plant down, and held it in place with the pipe cleaner. It was completely sideways before I went to bed, and then when I woke up it was completely repositioned. I'll post some pics later today. I've also noticed that it looks like I have two very different plants. One is a bright green, almost yellow-green, and the other is very dark. I have 4 bagseed sprouts going underneath the T8's - the MH was way too much for the little seedlings.
Just ordered seeds from Attitude!! This is what I got: CH9 Seeds Vantage Feminized Feminized Seeds Per Pack - 05 Seeds\t Samsara Seeds El Alquimista Feminized Feminized Seeds Per Pack - 03 seeds\t UFO#2 Samsara Seeds Crazy Miss Hyde Feminized UFO#1 Delicious Seeds Cotton Candy Feminized
I will tonight! I promise! I've just been rearranging things and don't want embarrassing photos of a messy grow room. My flowering tent came in today, along with RO system, and seedling mat. This new tent is so fucking big that I can stand in it...it would probably make a sweet little hot box room while not in use...anyway...I took the small tent out of the closet and into the bedroom. I've noticed that heat isn't nearly as much of an issue...I had to keep the flap open 24/7, had to have FIVE fans, just to keep it around 80. Well, now I only have two fans (clip on fan that came with the tent and 6" inline for the cool tube) and the temp is staying at a perfect 70 with the flap closed. So now I have this monster tent, more like a room, in my closet. I'm afraid that the 600 watt HPS will be too much heat, since the 400 watt MH was pretty hard to keep under control. One thing I did do differently though, besides moving the tent, was taking off one of the fans on the cool tube. I noticed the intake fan was broken (only had it for a week from HTG) so one end is just open now. This actually makes more sense to me, since it can draw out any heat from the tent as well. Can't believe I never thought to do that before...but anyway, HPS run a little cooler than MH, right? I will make sure to post pics of the new setup when I'm done cleaning. It's coming along pretty nicely, I think it'll be just what I need for a perpetual grow.
Alright, here's some pics! 1.New tent, will eventually be the 600w HPS flower room 2.Current setup, will be the 400w MH veg tent 3.The biggest plant of the two, just started LST a few days ago 4.Smaller of the two...looks kinda stunted to me? Or maybe the other one is a male? I dunno, it doesn't have as many leaf sets, but it does look a little healthier to me. 5.And the seedlings. These are all random bagseed my buddy gave me
I just gave the plants their first good watering since being transplanted into the smart pots. I filled up a gallon jug of tap water last night to use for watering today. I didn't adjust the pH, because I wanted to see how it was affected by sitting out. The pH is normally 8.4 right out of the tap, but when left overnight, it went up to 9.0. So finally, after many pH adjustments, I finally got it down to 6.0. Then I poured about half the jug into each pot, and there was plenty of runoff, so I was able to check the pH of the soil as well, which turned out to be 6.4 on each. FINALLY conditions are better - my temp stays around 78-79, and even the humidity is staying up! Last time I checked humidity was at 48% - much better than 18-20% like before. I really hope I see some improvements within the next week or so...the growing conditions seem to be much more ideal now, so I think I will. Oh yeah! I think I see preflowers on them too...they're just little nubs right now but I'm sure in a couple days they'll be much more pronounced. And I can see the LST starting to work (I think) because there's a little nub growing out from top of the second node. I'll try to get some good shots of those tonight.
Yeah I figured I should start a new one since I have a totally different setup now, which is a hundred gajillion times better than what I previously had... Anyway, here's a pic of the preflowers I was talking about...still too early to tell, but at least it's progress.
The new setup is the two tents. Before I had these it was just CFLs in my closet. So now I've got a shelf with a flouro strip hanging above it, which will be used for clones/seedlings, then when they're done growing there, I'll move them to the small 400w tent to veg, then when they're ready to flower, they'll go in the big 600w tent. Oh yeah - my carbon filter/fan combo came yesterday, along with another cool tube, and some cloning gel. I also have a RO system just chillin in my kitchen...I wish I could set that up, because Ive heard RO water works wonders for plants.
I got a new pH meter, along with 7.0 pH buffer solution, some CalMag, some Pro-Tekt, twenty 3 gallon grow bags, two big bags of Happy Frog, and I have some seeds coming. I'm planning on filling up the big tent with Auto's (that's what the 3 gal grow bags are for), and I'll put whatever other Photoperiod plants I can fit in there. The two Sativa's are looking pretty good. I thought they were extremely stunted, but I just checked my calendar and they're actually only 24 days old. I'd say the biggest one is probably 6", and the other is probably 4". I also have two bagseed seedlings that are doing pretty well. Yesterday when I got my new pH meter, I checked the pH of my soil, and it turned out to be around 5.2. This is probably the reason they've been growing slow...I adjusted it last night and it was about 6.4 when I checked it last. Growth seems to be at a much faster rate now...the secondary branches at each node seem bigger every time I check them. I'll try to update this journal more frequently...I've already forgotten minor details. I want this one to be as detailed as possible.
Wasn't subbed hmm well I must have been high... Anyways, here now to get this thing going in full swing finally.
Oh, and yea trim that under brush, but only a little bit at a time so as not to stunt the plant. no more than 15-20% of it's leaf coverage in one sitting(MAX) but it will help with the air flow, and growth pattern. Make sure you promote good tops.