Hey everyone Been lurking and reading now for a bit, and have started a little project and would love to share thoughts, tips, and progress between us all (mostly for my benefit) My mother has been battling Crohn's disease for about 30 years. Many surgeries, toxic medical cocktails, and hospital stays later, she is ready to work medical marijuana into her lifestyle and try to improve her quality of life naturally. So. Here we go. First time grow, noob, etc. Seeds: I lurked on forums and did a little research before I made a seed purchase through a seedbank. After reading reviews I decided to go with Herbies. I live on the northeast coast of the US and Herbies is located in the UK. My order was shipped on 4/22, utilizing no extra expedited shipping options or anything (this is a budget limited project). I'll keep you posted on how quickly I get them. I ordered 3x Feminized Auto Candy Kush, and 3x Advanced Biodiesel Mass Autoflowering Feminized. Herbies was kind enough to throw in freebies in the nature of 1x WOS Strawberry Blue Feminized, and 2x Hawaiian Skunk Haze REGULAR seed. Space: I am working with a limited space, utilizing a closet that is underneath a staircase. The space that I am using in this closet is 3' wide x 1.5' deep x 5' tall. I have installed ventilation to expel the air into another room and that air is sucked through a DIY carbon filter and a 4" duct fan. The closet had some shelving in it already and am trying to utilize is the best I can out of convenience rather than completely deconstructing and customizing. Again, budget limitations. Lights: I am using a combination of CFL bulbs in clamp sockets and a 4' T8 fixture that holds 2 bulbs. Soil: First time grow, and I feel most comfortable with soil I think. Ive purchased 2 cubic ft Fox Farm Happy Frog, and a bag of perlite. I plan on doing about a 3:1 ratio soilerlite. This is simply based on what I've found scouring forums and not my past experience obviously. Nutrients: I am doing autoflowers, and this is my first grow. I've ordered a bottle of Fox Farm Big Bloom to start using at about 1/3 strength about a week after flowering starts. I ordered a 32oz bottle on eBay for $18.99. Starting to push that budget. Id say about now all things involved im about $200 in. Thats about my limit so obviously hoping to basically make this go with what I've got going on. I'll post a few pictures of what I have so far, and will continue to update as things happen. Next step: Seed delivery from Herbies (apparently the forum doesn't support my iPhone pics in the orientation I thought they were in! I apologize for the crooked neck) Also there is nothing planted in these pictures...just demonstration purposes so far.
Assuming the seeds get to me and are not taken by our friends at CBP, I'd like some input on the best germination method to use and whether or not to put the seedling in a peat pellet or just directly into my Happy Frog/perlite mix... Lots of different germination methods around the Internet. Which works best? Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum
Hey, I'm in for the ride. Germinate in between two damp cloths in a dark space. I usually cover them with a bowl plant when tap root pops out
Beans are apparently either sitting in customs or have made it through... *patiently waiting* In the meantime... You recommend the paper towel method, and have has some success. Good enough for me. Do you put your seedlings directly into your grow soil? Or a peat pellet as a middle man? Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum
Appreciate the tips! I intend to carry this journal from germination to dry weight. So discouraged when I start reading a journal and it inevitably randomly stops mid flower. No updates from me yet. As of tonight, my beans have been supposedly sitting in customs in NY for about 36 hours. Patience.... Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum
Herbies package came in today without a problem. Can't say enough positive things about this... Like I said before my order shipped from UK on 4/22. 4 days later I'm holding all my packs choosing which to go with first because they threw in an extra 6 auto fem seeds for free. 3x Royal Queen Northern Lights Auto Fem 3x World of Seeds Northern Lights x Big Bud My closet is set up for probably 3 plants maximum (CFL set up so I could always use more light) so now I have to actually choose which 3 go for round one. I could have worse problems... Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum
Seed packs photos... Germination has started. I chose to start with: 1x Auto Candy Kush 1x Advanced Seeds Biodiesel Mass Auto 1x Royal Queen Northern Lights Auto Germination process with photos coming in a moment. Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum
Germination: 3 cheapo Tupperware sandwich size each set up with a damp paper towel. I started off with half of the paper towel inside of the Tupperware covering the bottom, and half laying over the side to cover the bean with. Placed each bean individually in its own Tupperware (don't forget to keep track and label!) and folded the damp paper towel to cover each bean. Cover each Tupperware and label accordingly. Stack Tupperware containers, wrap in bath towel, and place in warm spot. While these germinate, I'll be prepping my pots with my soil/perlite mix, so when they pop I can place them right away. I'm doing all auto flowers on this grow, and as I've read they are not fond of transplanting. Hopefully the Fox Farm Happy Frog isn't too hot for the little girls. Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum
I've heard the Fox Farm Ocean Harvest is a bit hot so I went with the Happy Frog. I'll see as I go I guess. Timers are now calibrated and set, but I had a moment of doubt and went ahead and ordered a handful of 42 watt 6500k CFL bulbs to replace the veg ones I've got in there now. Started to get worried about not having enough lumens or the best veg color range so I went for it. I have two bigger 65w 2700k bulbs to add to the mix during flowering. Or maybe I'll run them all the whole time? Not sure how much of the advice about that is based on science and how much is based on superstition... Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum
I guess my question about that should be a bit more detailed... Each plant will have 2 CFL bulbs each. 42 watt bulbs, 6500k. Above all three plants set up so I can raise and lower it, I've got a T8 ballast that holds 2 32watt 6500k tubes. At that point I'm +/- 100watts per plant. I have two 65w 2700k bulbs to supplement with. Not sure if there's a bigger benefit to adding those right at the beginning to push more lumens, or if that's better suited to wait until flowering. Sorry...loads of questions. Hopefully some other noob out there will benefit from reading. Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum
Subbed this is going to be awesome! I am jelly you got royal queen seeds... Sent from my DROID4 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
Also I think Fox Farms Ocean Forest used to be more hot or some batches would be different from others. I talked with my hyrdro guy and did research and it doesn't really seem like it is so hot after all. I have 9 plants and after germ in jiffys i put right into FFOF and they thrived. Just my two cents... Sent from my DROID4 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
Awesome thinking next time I'll do an Ocean Harvest/Happy Frog mix. And thanks for following the adventure... Grow Journal: First ever, CFLs and autoflowers http://forum.grasscity.com/indoor-grow-journals/1299009-first-time-grow-autoflowers-cfls.html