Grow with Gerg

Discussion in 'Indoor Grow Journals' started by Greg_Taylor, Mar 4, 2024.

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How would you rate my plant so far on a 10 scale?

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  1. New to this forum, first thread. HELLO! This single seed obtained from another local grower was germinated first week December 2023. I found this forum while trying to troubleshoot what had been going so terribly wrong with my numerous grow attempts here in SC over three grow seasons. By using the "shotgun" method I may have solved the many problems encountered since moving here. More about that after the poll is up and running. Please vote! Thx, guys. (Guys is neither male not female, btw.)
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  2. I am growing this plant strictly INDOORS, only took it outside to get natural lighting photos today for this grow blog. This shot is 1/30/24, almost 5 weeks ago. After I set her in the sun with a mylar backdrop it screwed her up, leaves developed brown tips, a couple of burn spots, and continued to develop purple-to-black edges. The mylar backdrop was a mistake. I've only used LED lighting since, trying to get the burn-related issues under control before putting her in direct sunlight indoors again.

    This shot is natural light cam settings using iPhone X
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    This is the same shot with a blue filter setting.
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  3. Hi Greg, welcome to Grass City.

    Your plants look great. Tell a little bit more info about your grow. Medium, nutrients, ect. Lots of great info on this site. Best of luck on your grow.
     
  4. #4 Greg_Taylor, Mar 4, 2024
    Last edited: Mar 4, 2024
    This locale is rife with mites, spidermites, aphids, nasty gnats that hurt your plants, fungal and bacterial plant infections that kill off entire schrubs, let alone a wimpy, weakling, hybrid cannabis. I grew great plants in Michigan in the '70s & '80s, from California and Maui seeds that were in the bottom of the baggy and "free", completely trouble free.

    I eventually wound up in NW GA and bought three Lemon varietal hybrid seeds from a web seller in 2008 after my old migraines started coming back. The seeds were not nearly as big as my Michigan grown stuff, but still of a fairly decent, respectable size. I purchased a round LED grow light with three internal fans for about $100, and made a nice, heavy-thickness mylar circular enclosure from a large 48" wide roll of the stuff I've had since 1995. I bought bagged garden soils from Home Depot, and took the plants out on the back patio for full-on sun every chance I got. The plants grew trouble-free to 5 or 6 feet, and the harvest filled six large Planters Peanuts glass jars which I stored in the freezer. The buzz was satisfying and the taste and smoke were smooth and pleasant.

    That stuff lasted me for 12 years! I read where a guy said you could store pot in the freezer for up to a year. LMAO.

    By the time I ran out of smoke in 2021 I was living in central SC, and found myself shopping for seeds. This time when they arrived I was REALLY disappointed as soon as I got them, they were itty-bitty-titty-committee, and when I searched the web I found tons of BS about how size doesn't matter, so I let it go.

    This crop grew OK to about 24" then the problems developed, probably from outdoors exposure to pathogens plus shitty city water. Leaves yellowing prematurely, falling off, all kinds of bad. I figured a fungal and/or bacterial infection, harvested the pathetic crop and smoked it for a year, then tried to grow again from another varietal in 2022.

    I begged the seed vendor for FAT seeds, but all I got was more BS from the seller about size doesn't matter and more ittybittytittycommitttee seeds. This time I used Frog Farm soil, and was sorely disappointed in the quality. $35.00 for a bag of 50% hardwood mulch that was years away from ever being soil, what a waste of time and money. Never again.

    Again the plants were weak, sickly, and prone to disease - in spite of more effort and care, even worse than the previous crop. The harvest was terrible.

    I decided to try another approach this year. Since the seed sellers refuse to sell me their best, fattest, most ROBUST plant seeds which are far more likely to be strong enough to resist infection and nutrient issues, I would get seed from a local grower who has already found a strain he is happy with that grows well in this area.

    Thus I have no idea what strain this is. I do know it is a another tiny, crappy seed so I have no great expectations for it's height and yield in the end.

    I raked, mulched, and composted my own soils from tree leaves, which took 9 months from scratch, on a large concrete patio in the shade. It can be done much faster and better, but I wasn't in a hurry.

    Then I put the soil in a bunch of cheap, 2" deep aluminum cooking trays and baked the soil on my BBQ grill at 325° for 90 minutes. This was then soaked and kneaded with de-chlorinated tap water and allowed to drain. Lined a 5-gal bucket, with 1/2" holes drilled around the bottom, with stones, filled the bucket to within 2" of the top with the bake, placed the germinated seed a few inches off-center to allow for the handle, for me to pick up the maturing plant and carry it around without bumping up against the stem, and pushed a bit of moist soil over the seedling to keep her moist and protected until the roots could dive and take hold.

    I set the bucket on it plastic lid to catch drainage, and position the mylar enclosure around it and LED grow lights above. Set the timer for 18 hrs on 6 hrs off.

    By growing using a local grower's seed stock I first eliminated hybrid variety as my major problem.
    By growing starting in December I eliminated 99.9% of all possible insect issues.
    By growing in my own, baked and sterilized soils I knew exactly what was in the soils to begin with and eliminated all possible initial fungal and bacterial issues.
    By growing strictly indoors, in winter, I eliminated 99.9% of all possible such infections from invasion of my grow room.
    By using tried-and-true lighting I eliminated that as a source of misery.

    The ONLY possible remaining variables hence forth would only ever be the water, tweaking micro nutrients, and maximizing fertilizer and uptake by tracking pH, especially in the drainage.

    Sure enough, damned if I didn't see poor leaf color and development from the very get-go!
     
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  5. Cannabis is actually quite a strong plant assuming it's getting the proper nutrients.
     
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  6. All that and yet...SHE LIVES. It's a cruel world out there.
     
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  7. Con't....

    WHAT could it be? Water, of course! I switched from de-chlorinated tap water to filtered tap water, but the problem persisted. As soon as I switched to distilled life got MUCH better!

    After I went through that gallon of distilled i switched to a 2.5 gal jug of grocery store filtered drinking water, to try and get micro-nutrients I seemed to be missing.

    It didn't hurt, but I still wasn't happy so I went to Lowes and picked up a small bottle of Miracle Gro Shake 'n Feed pellets to work into the the topsoil layer.

    This made quite a difference, proving to be a smart move.
     
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  8. Time release nutrients are typically avoided by experienced growers. Problem is when the plant goes into flower, it's NPK requirements change significantly. Got to drop the N in flower and increase P.
     
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  9. #9 Greg_Taylor, Mar 4, 2024
    Last edited: Mar 4, 2024
    SOOO - now that I found the right combination to grow a healthy albeit diminuitive plant (I don't count 30" at 3 months a resounding success) I realized I had a 10lb bottle of CO2 in the garage for welding. I rigged up a delivery hose, and VOILA! All I do is open the valve, count to 5, and close it, every time I pass by the laundry room. The plant is definitely loving it, and showing even more improvement after just 10 days of this new treatment. Here's my laundry room grow facility, complete with mylar cylinder, three different LED spectrum lights, and the CO2 tank , lower left.

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  10. I hear ya! I'd already used water-sol 24-8-16 Miracle Gro crystals at one point in troubleshooting the issues I'd encountered with this grow earlier (didn't fix my problems). Waited for a suitable washout period then went with this one for the time-release micronutes I really needed. As for NPK It's only 12-4-8, shouldn't be enough to do any long-term harm when it comes time to flower up I 'spect. I'm going to extend the grow as long as I dare, and cut some slips to clone a next gen.

    My endgame is to force a hermaphrodite to successfully go to seed, but I don't have much faith that these puny little seeds are capable of that.

    Does ANYONE know where I can find big, fat tortoise-shell seeds these days?
     
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  11. I use tap water, literally from faucet to plant. The issues you are having stem from the fact that the plant isn't getting the nutrients it needs when it needs them. Seems like a solid researched nutrient plan would benefit your grows greatly. Plenty of organic growers on here that could help if that's the route you want to take. I grow non organic, take a peek if you want.
    (1) Blueberry Cheese from seed | Grasscity Forums - The #1 Marijuana Community Online
     
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  12. Are you asking for breeder recommendations? Seed broker recommendations? Be more specific.
     
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  13. If you are looking to "self" a plant, take a clone in veg, spray said clone with silver thiosulfate to force it to grow male flowers, then use the pollen to fertilize the mother.
     
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  14. I have no preference as to "breeder" or "broker", only that they will absolutely provide nothing BIG, dark seeds, no small seeds accepted for this next grow trial. Can be hybrid leaning toward sativa, or basic hi-potency sativa.
     
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  15. Sweed, That's certainly one valid route, but not the one I wish to take at this time.
     
  16. What breeders have you tried so far?
     
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  17. I absolutely eliminated nutrient uptake as well as virtually every other malady in determining what was wrong here. There is a huge difference in tap water from one city to another, what might be OK in one locale is not necessarily going to work in another. Consider Flint, MI and you'll see my point. It was poisonous to its residents with tons of lead, yet in the very next town the water was fine.

    I was able to determine beyond any reasonable doubt that the tap water here is harmful to my cannabis, even when filtered well. It makes great coffee, though. Go figure.
     
  18. Ones that did not send fat seeds, LOL
     
  19. Such as? What's with the runaround. Be honest or I'm out.
     
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  20. this will get you back up to speed..GWE

    good luck
     

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