Okay so i'm new here as well as to the art of cultivation and this is will be my first grow. I've been doing lots and lots of research and have a fairly good idea as to what I'm doing but I know nothing pays off like experience so hopefully I can get a little help if I need it along the way. Now seeing as this is my first grow I've posted this diary a little early just in case I'm forgetting something I need, I dont want to get started out on the wrong foot now do I? I'm in the phase of ordering equipment now so lemme know if I'm forgetting anything important that I'll need to get started. T5 LED Fluorescent Light 47" 4 Blue Grow Bulbs 4 Red Grow Bulbs 4 Orange Grow Bulbs Mylar 48X48X78 Grow Tent 3 in 1 Plant Flowers Soil PH Tester/Moisture/Light Meter LCD Digital TDS Meter Tester Water Quality Oscillating Fan Indoor/Outdoor Digital thermometer/hygrometer 2 X 1/8" Grow Light Rope Ratchet Reflector YoYo Hanger Pots Coco Coir grow medium Perlite I will be using a ratio of 60/40 coco/Per-lite to promote root growth I will be using a combination of Advanced Nutrients, Botanicare and General Organics as well as some dyna-gro pro tekt potassium silicate I'm also going to need a good ventilation system with a carbon scrubber of course to control the smell which is quite expensive so I'll have to work that into the budget in a few weeks. I'll also need a separate intake fan to bring in the fresh air. And of course last but not least the star of our show will be 11 feminized joint doctor diesel ryder seeds. I'll get some pictures of the setup up as soon as the everything shows up. With any luck everything I need to get started will be here by the weekend which will be everything pictured here as well as some seeds pots n plants. I'll have the nutes here by the weekend as well but wont be using them yet. Unfortunatly that light which i ordered 9 days ago hasnt even been shipped yet the guy says he is out of bulbs. Stupid eBay
Thanks Novadude. And while i'm here i also got an update on the light which is going to be shipped Tuesday, not sure if it will make it for the weekend or not.
I'm along for the ride too. I just switched from hydro to coco and it's taking some getting used to. My first stupid mistake was leaving the run-off in the tray for the coco to wick back up. Ended up over watering the heck out of my new sprouts. I've always grown DWC and didn't have a clue. So my first lesson learned was, always remove the run-off. Good Luck, 86.
thanks agent 86 glad you can join us. Enjoy the grow, as soon as it gets started that is. This week seems to be dragging already and its only Monday.
just a quick update both good and bad... well possibly bad. first the good new, it's been shipped and i have the tracker number so at least that is taken care of and on its way Now the bad news... turns out its actually a 4 X t5 high output fluorescent. I'm not too sure what to think of this other then it will do the trick. The guy advertised it as : T5 Blue Red Fluorescent Plant Grow Light = LED 400 w HPS mh 12 Lamps HIGH OUTPUT So i thought that meant i was buying LED but apparently not now that i've researched the t5. Not fair because if it didnt say LED it wouldnt have even come up in the search engine. Anyway we will have to see how it works out. I'll be switching to the hps obviously for the flower so it should still work out ok.
Was it an Ebay item? They dont make 47" lights... Bulbs come in 2,4,6,8ft bulbs. Also you said its a T5 LED Fluorescent Light? T5 is a type of bulb, theres even T12 (Size) which is rediculously huge lol. That guy added pretty much every light except plasma into his title, kinda sneaky. 400w name brand LED probly run you $500+... Hope the light works out for ya, should get some pictures of your set up when you can.
K a quick update for everyone this t5 has arrived and it seems to be pretty bright should be good for the veg and then like i said i'll switch the light over for the flowering stage. I'm all ready to germinate the seeds. I also got 5 feminized La Bella Afrodita to throw into the mix so I'll germinate them all and we will see what happens.
Day 1: ok so i sterilized 2 containers bearing the maple leafs logo (buds for my buds) I then placed 4 of the 5 La Bella Afrodita Delicious seeds and 8 of the 11 Diesel Ryder seeds on to tissue and added 20 ml of distilled water, placed the tops on (LOOSELY) and up in the cupboard. I also added about 3 litres of distilled water to a cube of growtek coco to prepare for my seedlings.
So just did a quick calculation and according to the seed to flower scale these should be ready January 18th 2012 and after 72 hours of darkness YUM be ready to harvest on January 21st 2012 and the medicine should be available for use January 28th. Guess Christmas will be a month late this year.
quick meaningless update... after 12 hours we have no cracks. Sprayed the containers with 4 sprays of distilled water and back up in the cupboard they went.
Well about 19 hours in we have our first seed cracking and showing a tad of root. It's a Diesel Ryder seed for those who are curious. Take a look.
So simple mathematics leads me to believe that I should have 5 day weeks with the exception of my switch to bloom which obviously be on its own timeline (when plant begins to show sex) or pistils begin to develop, these are feminized seeds so they are obviously already female. I just sterilized a few small pots (0.19 Gal or 720 cc) not sure if i should start with these (about 75%) as opposed to my 5X11 tray for seedlings (about 25%). I really don't want to be transplanting too much with these auto-flowers. The less I stunt their growth the better.
You'll quickly learn that I take my medication for hyperactivity, with that comes a very low level of patience. I'll survive it, of course. Patience for the Patient as I like to think of it as I am an approved medical user. I cant help to think what is going on in the magic cupboard at the moment though. I'm going to plant my cracked seeds in the morning and put them under the light. As a side note, I also have some unknown strand of kush seeds (from a recent street grab) that are cracking as well. I plan on vegging these while this batch grows and then if I get a male use the male to pollinate the La Diva Affrodita and 3 Diesel Ryder seeds I have remaining. Hopefully I can also figure out which strand it is along the way.
Day 2. (38 hours) Okay so I woke up this morning and off to the grocery store I went for some more high quality distilled & ozonated H2O. After straining my coco with about 1 litre of water per cup of coco I mixed together a 60/40 mix of coco/vermiculate. I then went to the magic cupboard and found that a total of 4 Diesel Ryders had cracked as well as one of the "mystery kush" seeds. I filled 8 0.2 Gallon containers with the grow medium made a hole for the seed and gently dropped the seedlings in. I then gave the ladies a few sprays of distilled water and under the light they went for the day. As for the remaining seeds, I gave them about 5 sprays each of distilled water and back in the cupboard they went.
43 Hours. Some more seeds have sprouted and have now found a new home in my grow medium. So far we have 6 Diesel Ryders and 1 La Bella underneath coco and light.
Day 3. 7 of the 8 Diesel Ryders have cracked and made their way underneath coco and light as well as 4 of the 4 La Bella Afrodita seeds. I cant complain at all so far 11/12 seeds I germinated have already made their way underneath coco and light. The lab is starting to look a whole lot better with these pots even tho I have yet to see any sign of green. I love evolution.
Day 3. 7 of the 8 Diesel Ryders have cracked and made their way underneath coco and light as well as 4 of the 4 La Bella Afrodita seeds. I cant complain at all so far 11/12 seeds I germinated have already made their way underneath coco and light. The lab is starting to look a whole lot better with these pots even tho I have yet to see any sign of green. I love evolution.