Another window grow attempt.

How do fine folks?

So it's time to start Window Grow #4.
I'm recovering from being pretty ill (fever, lung congestion) so I feel a lil spacey.

Here is a link to my Window Grow #3, which had to be aborted early in the season:
IT AIN’T DONE RIGHT IF IT AIN’T DONE THRICE! Personal indica dominant grow.

Window Grow #2 was my successful one. Here is the link to that one:
Post-Pandemic Garden: sativa, indica, blends.

And the link to Window Grow #1, my first attempt at growing in my south facing window;
Pandemic Garden: sativa, indica, blends.

This grow will be similar to my previous window grows that I've done over the past few years. I've been very happy with the results (the best being approximately 4 oz of bud from two plants) and I want to fine tune the techniques and such.
For those new to my style, I should mention that I've grown outdoor-gorilla style as well as indoors, and am now focused on low effort, low cost, high quality personal grows. Being in a legal state helps a lot.

This will be in a south facing window with nearly zero costs. No electricity used for the grow, no feeding except maybe for a nutrient/microbe bump before flowering. Medium is 10 year old plus organic compost from commercial organic compost, amendments and wild oak leaves. All cost elements for the compost was paid for over 10 years ago when I started this.

The first of the two biggest changes will be germinating my seeds much earlier than I have in the past with my window grows. Seeds are feminized Old Growth OG (Chem Dawg and OG Kush cross) from the Humboldt Seed Company, a well respected group of seed cultivators. I tend to grow to near pure sativa so this will be a bit different for me. Old Growth OG is supposedly 75% indica, 25% sativa. I'll be throwing the seeds in the water dish in a couple of days. I want to set the water out and aerate it to bubble off the chloramine as much as I can. The tap water is coming off of a two-stage water filter but I have some time so I want to be very through.

The 2nd big change will be a better window enclosure, called the Window Garden Framework (WGF). Same basic design as before; A wooden framework for a suspended and vertical trellis frame, and a trapezoid shell enclosing the grow area around the plant in order to trap sunlight, redirect ocean breezes over/past my plants, and provide my kitchen with privacy.

This year I am upgrading with some carpentry trickery I want to try. Mostly enhanced wooden frame with removable wood panel facades (the panels were just ugly foam core before) that have been treated with tung oil. The goal is to mimic a cabinetry look.

Lets see what we can do, eh?

 

NOTES REVIEW:

So a few differences noted here.

1) Germination will start much earlier this year. Late March, early April is when I was usually trying to germinate, I'm now shooting for late February. The early germination should increase my yield and I am getting more of a head start on the garden build itself. Additionally, if I have germination issues, I will still have time to try again.
2) Instead of germinating in compost I am germinating in water, then transferring to compost.
3) Instead of building my window garden frame first (to create a garden space to germinate in), I am germinating first and building the frame 2nd. The frame is not needed right away and I intend to do a much nicer bit of carpentry this time around.

 

I have been blessed by meeting some incredible people over time. For my germinating techniques, I'll be referring to the video linked below. No water from the Ganges I am afraid, but the intention will be there.

 

I'm honored, thank you for joining me.

 

February 21st

So some notes for clarification. I make these journals for 3 reasons primarily;
1) It helps to organize my thoughts as well as motivate me and gives me something to refer to in the future, hopefully so that I fine tune the system even more.
2) To get feedback from more folks who may see something I may be overlooking. So yes, I am soliciting community involvement here.
3) To illustrate a low cost and easy way to grow your own.

In regards to 3) I should add:
The low cost factor here is in not having to use electricity for things like lights, fans, dehumidifier, feeding, etc. There are costs of course, but most are pretty minimal for me as I invested heavily in growing indoors over 10 years ago.

For those wishing to try this style of grow: Post 83 of this diary illustrates the bare bones of what is needed to do this sort of grow. My grow has, by this time (my 4th attempt), become a bit of a Frankenstein’s Monster. The end goal is still the same. Low cost and ease of effort. But now I’ve added the goals of efficiency and visual aesthetics.

 

So if anyone is familiar with my previous window grow attempts, you may have noticed that one of my biggest issues was germination.
Some of that was from trying to save money by using old seed stock. Part of it was because I didn't have a good methodology in place. Post #3 above has a link to a video on one technique for the germination of cannabis seeds and I'll be using that technique.

Because of the quickness of germination (in the video anyway) and that I am using feminized seeds, I've decided to use bigger pots. The. goal being to reduce transplants. Ideally I'll transplant once.

So I'm going from the 3.4 liter pots I've used before to 7 liter pots.

Additionally I plan to sprout 3 seeds. The goal is for 3 plants in my garden. If the seeds do not produce tap roots in 48 hours, I will try others. But I only have 6 seeds atm. Luckily there are seed retailers in my area.

Here are the two pots, 3.4 liters and 7 liters.

 

So I like to wet my compost a few days before I put seedlings in. This gives the microorganisms some time to set up shop and be stable, hopefully, by the time I place a plant within their dirty hands.

This year I made a mix of my very well seasoned compost (which will be used near full strength for the final pot up) and bagged organic compost from a nursery store, in a 50/50 ratio. Ideally to make the compost not too hot nutrient wise. I also added a couple of fistfuls of freshly bought work castings.

 

So I plan on germinating my first three seeds on Friday. My mycorrhizal order should arrive on Saturday. With any luck I’ll be planting by Monday of next week.

 

I hope I can do their OG justice. Not sure if I have ever had a proper Kush to myself before.

I'm looking forward to the experience.

 

FEBRUARY 22ND, 2023


So while I am awaiting the final elements for germination, I am using my time at home (being sick) drawing up nice plans for my Window Garden Framework (WGF). I finished the drawing for the base/foundation detail. Time to eat some food, then cut wood, router the edges for a nice curve, sand, and if I am feeling it, apply the first coat of tung oil.

 

I would probably buy Gorilla Cum just for the lolz.

 

So, as usual, the woodwork is taking longer than anticipated. But I have the lumber for the WGF base cut to length, the edges rounded off with my router (the most extensive use of my router yet, so very pleased there) and about 85% of the sanding done.

Tomorrow I'll finish my sanding and apply the first coat of tung oil. As well as pop my seeds in their water bath.

Lately Amazon has been a frickin' mess. I hope they can at least deliver a wee packet of mycorrhizal powder adeptly.

 

Yeppers! Time off from work will do that. Sanding is done and getting ready to apply the first coat of tung oil.

 

FEBRUARY 24TH, 2023

First coat of tung oil is on. I used a 50/50 mix of tung oil and mineral spirits. The mineral spirits is for deep penetration. Any other coats will be pure tung oil, which means I can do it in my garage.

The last time I tried mineral spirits in my garage the whole house stunk. Really nasty.

This is my first big application of tung oil. Also my first time using an organic vapor respirator. It worked really well and I'm pretty stoked how it all worked out.

In addition to building a structural framework for my WGF, this is teaching me how to be a better woodworker. That said, this is really not fine woodwork I am doing. It's a learning experience. All the lumber is recycled so it’s a bit dinged up. Besides experimenting, my goal was to create smooth to the touch surfaces and remove sharp edges.

Seen here are the backbone foundation ( 4 by 4) and two feet (2 by 4s) for the WGF base.