Hello everyone! Long time lurker here. I've always wanted to turn my thumb a nice shade of green, and I'm finally in a spot to give it a shot. Originally I wasn't going to post a journal - I'm not sure if I'll keep up with it. But alas, my first week feels like I'm nurturing an infant and I can use all the help from you veterans as I can get. The basics: Case: Thor V2 PC case Exhause: Noctua high static pressure pc fan 140mm > DIY carbon filter Intake: 140mm pc fan Lights: 2 DIY Cree COB LED cxb3590 @ 700mAH / 70 watts 3500k 90cri Soil: Happy Frog Nutes: ff big bloom/tiger bloom Strain: Northern Lights Those are the basics. One thing I am positive I'm doing wrong is Ph. I know how crazy important it is, but I overdid my budget. As soon as I'm able I'll be getting a kit for my water. As of now I'm running blind and it's freaking me out lol. Anywho, I'll post some pics and then my questions. I'm not gonna lie, I'm pretty happy with how all my tinkering came together!!
Right on, man! Looking forward to seeing photos. As for testing pH on a limited budget, you can pick up pH Test Strips pretty cheap (if you're in a rural area, Amazon has them for $5 to $10), and it looks like decent pH meters for water are only around $15.
Here's the girl. I'm so paranoid that something is wrong every day lol. Deficiency, watering, all that business. Mind taking a look at her and telling me if she's healthy? Some of the new true leaves look red to me... day 2 day 3 day 4
Thanks man!! It's as stealthy as I can make it haha. I may end up adding another filter of the same style below the main exhaust for temp control. It tends to hit 85 on a hot day. Usually hovers between 71-79 otherwise
Yes, the sprout looks super healthy! I believe the variation in color is normal. Ok yeah, those temperature ranges sound manageable. Looking forward to the updates
That's a relief to hear! I'll keep updating the grow with pictures. This is fun I appreciate your input!
It's day 5! Time for an update. I've been keeping her super dry, being that I'm a noob I've been super cautious of overwatering. She's been getting a teaspoon of water daily. I'm trying to encourage her to dig deep in search of that precious h2o. Anywho, last night I gave her a good watering, ended up with a little runoff which I wasn't aiming for. Emptied the catch and let her be. Hopefully I didn't drown her lol. That'll be it for 5 days.
Alright alright alright. Day 6! The decision to give her a good watering has paid off. She had some nice growth last night. Woohoo!
I swear the pictures do not do COBs justice. They are so bright. When I open up the case the entire room is lit up.. I couldn't imagine running them at full power! Right now they're running at half their max output, this gives me the best temps, longevity, and photons/wattage ratio. The passive heat sinks are doing their job well! I think she's liking these temps!!
Day 9: The PC case has been slightly upgraded. I was using a Noctua 140mm 2000 RPM fan. It has a static pressure rating of 4.2 h2o/mm. It's been replaced with a Noctua 3000 RPM fan with a SP rating of 10.5 h20/mm. This thing is a powerhouse. It's so loud without the carbon filter attached to it! With it on it just sounds like a heavy breathing PC which I'm okay with. Anyone who comes around would see a monitor on and a PC breathing, nothing suspicious there. The fan is powerful enough to suck right through the carbon filter and still provide more than adequate CFM. As far as the plant goes, it's undergone some lighting changes. I was sticking to an 18/6 light cycle. And I wanted to keep it that way. Unfortunately my wife likes to wear booty shorts and turn the temperature up in the house instead of wearing pants. I'm not going to make her leave the thermostat alone for the sake of my hobby, so I figure I'll make it work with any circumstance. The lights have been switched to a 24 hour cycle. She's still young, and an auto, so I'm not worried about herming or jacking her up too bad. This will keep the temps around 73 constantly. I'm all for that! Here she is day 9. I've noticed one of her leaves is sort of... Twisted. Is this a mutation? Or maybe her first true leaves are just sloppy? Slightly under watered? All criticism is welcome! This being my first grow, I could use all the input I can get.
Looking good! You could give her more water probably. If the pot has decent drainage, the soil doesn't need to be too dry at this point - unless that's a technique for dwarfing the plant (haven't done any micro grows myself). Looks like you have some perlite in there, possibly some peat moss, so the drainage in that pot should be good. Regarding the twist in the leaf, I think it's nothing to worry about - I'm thinking that's either from genetic variation or the young plant still seeking out the best angle.
Cool. I see a lot of growth after she gets watered. As far as drainage goes I drilled extra holes in the bottom, and the pot has about a cm of space so it can flow out unobstructed. I'm definitely not trying to dwarf her, she's pretty short all on her own haha