Hello, I'm licensed in colorado under amendment 20, and I've started my first grow. I've been smoking for about 14 years, but only taking everything a little more serious for the past few months. My buddy germinated some seeds that we had from some mids and a couple seeds from some eighth's that I had purchased from dispensaries, again all legally. Anyway, my journal, early on, is based on approximation since we really didn't think that any of the seeds would last, and when they did germinate, everything started moving so fast. I barely had time to stay caught up, and I think I've got a slight handle on everything right now. Systems are starting to come up, and I see where I'm going in the next few weeks in terms of vegetation and flowering. It's later now, where I'm able to be more precise in terms of date and times. Anyway, on with the journal Seed #1 I can't remember when we planted her (hoping she is a her here), but we think it was around the 12th of November when she sprouted. We didn't take care of her at all initially. We just had her in a bathroom with the light on and the fan on all night. I think that's why she was growing so long and lanky; she was trying to reach to get herself closer to the light. We were just using some walmart soil, and I transplanted her to a slightly bigger pot (still very small) on the 23rd, still using walmart soil. The 25th or 26th is when I tranplanted her into a 3 gallon plastic pot, this time I loaded her into some Ocean Forest. I used a Hormex solution to water the new soil and she took right away. Seed #2 She had a taproot protruding profusely and ready to plant on 11/23. The only thing I had at the time was the same walmart soil. So I planted her into a partycup and later re-planted her into some FFOF. She sprouted 11/28 Seed #3 & #4 (& #5) I planted these seeds straight into the FFOF to see what would happen, without germinating in the paper towels. 1 didn't make it, but the other two did. They were planted 11/28. One sprouted 12/1, and the other sprouted 12/4. On 12/8, they were transplanted, again with Hormex, to a 2 gal pot each. Initially, my lighting was two 75w cfl's from two desktop lamps to light the first one. I took my lighting a step further by creating a 6-fixture setup housed into a metal washtub ala AskEd (you're awesome man). I really had an awful lighting setup in that I didn't mount any hangers, so the washtub was being held up with.......duct tape. I knew this was nowhere near permanent, and I had to find a much more stable and secure environment. That week I stumbled upon a hydroponic store and got a sunleaves comet 300 for $160.00. She's got a 400w CFL and I've added 2 100w CFL's into the mix. They all LOVE the new lighting setup. The room is about 3' x 4' x 10' closet emptied out. I still have to finish putting up final touches. Up until this week, they were on a 24/0 schedule, but I've now put a timer on them for 18/6. Even though all four plants sprouted at different times, I'm going to treat them all (except for the youngest) as if they're in week 2 in FoxFarm's feeding schedule. I'm a little tired now and morning comes too soon. I'll be posting early pics, and some new pics too. I want to thank everyone who's posted and contributed to this wonderful place. I'm learning sooo much!! I have some pics, and I'll be posting others too...
I've put up some pics that I took today. The images are ok. I'll post higher quality images this weekend. The images are in order of newest to oldest.
I just did 2 tbsp of Big Bloom and 2 tsp of Grow Big into the oldest one. This is the first time using the Grow Big. I'm either going to water the others tonight or tomorrow morning. They're soil isn't as dry
Today I watered #2, #3, & #4. #4 is on about the end of week 1 so she got a Big Bloom feeding. #2 & #3 is on week 2; I gave them Big Bloom and Grow Big. Rotated them to new locations in the closet with a fan inside the closet and a second larger fan outside of the closet. Temp is upper 70s to mid 80s.
So far, everyone's doing great! I just ordered a second lamp setup, this time from stealth hydro. This will complement my comet, and will REALLY help during flowering! I'm a little excited. On #$1 I've noticed a couple of possible preflowerings coming up. They look like ball sax, but they are still wayyyy too small to tell. I should have a magnifier coming shortly, and later this week with further vegetation, I'll know with more confidence. Other than that, she spread out 2 leaf sets (7 & 9 sets) yesterday, and is working on 2 more right now. #2 & #3 are doing great with the Grow Big/Big Bloom feeding. No burns so far. I'm also expecting some preflower next week with #2. I'm thinking New Year's Eve for #3. #4 is good. I had seen a tiny hole (burn?) on the first leaf (not the cotyledon, the one after that), but nothing else. The hole isn't expanding either, and everything else is great with her. The second set's leaves are wide like #2 & #3, but they're 'rounder'. I'm rotating them 90 degrees every two hours to get as much well-rounded lighting as I can give them. Temp is between 80 and 85......
Today, I discovered some preflowering on #1, and I think I'll have a better idea of the sex tomorrow morning. I've added a 3rd 100w cfl.
So I've been watching #1, and it looks like i've got male preflowering happening..... i hope Im wrong
Thanks grasshumper! Greatly appreciated buddy. I'm pretty excited about how well they're doing. My mind's focused on those preflowers coming up right now too. I've got some 4 gal pots ready to be used for transplanting, and then we'll just get ready to flower!!
So I've been busy at the school getting ready for our 2 week break, and I've only been watching the plants and rotating them through the closet. I've gotten a lot of preflowers that REALLY looked like ball sax, but I think the first few have pistils? I don't know yet, but I'm watching it daily. Patience patience...... Thursday, the plants looked ready for a watering so I thought it would be good to transplant. #1, 2, and 3 were moved, albeit very clumsily ) to 4 gallon buckets. Right now, those buckets are in 5 gal buckets for the runoff. I'm going to be investing in some decent holding tubs to replace these buckets. I've also received my second lamp setup. I ordered this from stealth hydro dot com. It arrived thursday, so we installed it into the closet; I have to say I like the new lamps much better. #1-3 just used a hormex mix of water this time in the transplanting. I'm embarassed to say that #2's leaves ended up being drenched in her xplant. Thursday night and all day yesterday, #2 looked wet and very pissed off . However today, she seems to be a little happier and upright. I trimmed any crumbled leaves, and topped her to see if she can replenish her leaf sets. Today, I transplanted #4, and that was by far, my smoothest xplant. Definitely learned alot about transplanting this week. She had a combination of hormex, big bloom and grow big. This is her 2nd week so her first time with the grow big. So the next feeding for 1-3 will be big bloom/grow big, 2nd week with the grow big. #4 will be only water next time. Any day now, I should be finding out if I'm naming #1 or finding a butter recipe here. I'm going to need some more ocean forest, big bloom, some risers to change the light height, and some runoff tubs. The closet I'm using is only temporary, and I'm hoping to have a dedicated room for growing ready to go (at least in a bare bones setup) complete by the first of the year. We close our business for two weeks, so I do have some time to invest in a grow room. I'll be bringing my 50D home so I'll get some shots of the babies, the closet and some solid macros of the preflowers. Now that #4 is at week two, I'm going treat all 4 plants as if they're the same age. I have to do this since I'm on very limited space for flowering, at least for now.
#2 responded pretty well, so far, to the haircut. The stems are stronger still and the leaves have opened up too. Her leaves and stems are rather sparse;I'm wondering of the possibility of a male here. I know I had kept going back and forth about #1 being a guy, but I really think I'm seeing pistils. I'm thinking that what I thought were seed formations were just the pistil splitting and opening up. I haven't seen any banana formations, just tiny bud formations. She's responding REALLY well (all of them are, actually) to the added lights. #3 & #4 are really enjoying the new setups too. They both look like bushy, stocky, little females too.... , but that doesn't mean a damn thing either. So I'm predicting that #1, #3, & #4 are females and #2 is a dude, just by leaf/stem growth right now. Time will tell. Thanks for looking again! BTW, the canon is home. I'll be shooting pics within the next couple of days.....
Things have been a bit busy; cleaning and getting ready for christmas eve dinner with my mom, sister, and in-laws tonight. Since we do have comp'ny coming, i really couldn't have my 'garden' in the living room closet. So this was a perfect opportunity for me to move the babies downstairs to their new room. The room was pretty bad to begin with. It was taken over by de-cluttered junk and our cats. So, I took the carpet out, put up some new 'wallpaper' (far from done), and added some new lighting. I'll need to look at taking the lighting to a different level with the new room. I'm far from done with the room, but I've got her up and running. The babies love the added space. Yesterday, after I moved them in, I gave #1 a feeding with Big Bloom (2 tbls) and Grow Big (3 tsp) with some runoff. I still don't know the sex yet, but I'm not stressed on that anymore. I'll just keep my eyes on her and take it a day at a time. #2 is doing 'ok'. She's (no confirmation on sex, just wishful thinking) got definite yellowing, but she's sprouting new leaf sets all over the friggin' place. The new sets are healthy with no abnormal coloring or anything. No feeding since the xplant, and her soil is still a little moist, so we'll wait a little bit more. #3 & #4 are doing very well. No watering yet either. They're really healthy.
Today is the start of the 3rd week of vegetation for #4. Yesterday, before christmas dinner, I topped #1. She's handling it very well. She's really tall, so I figured I'd see about getting her a little more dense, and not so much on the height. I also am proud to say I think she is a lady!!!! I've named her Honey. No bananas, just little hairs....so I'm a little excited. I hate to say it, but that don't really mean shit. She may still hermie, or she may still be a guy and I don't know what ball sax look like too. Until then, so far, so good on Honey!! Oh, I also forgot, she is ready. She's growing asymmetrically now on the sides. #2, #3, & #4 all got their week 3 watering tonight; which was what Honey got yesterday, 2 Tbs Big Bloom & 3 tsp of Grow Big. Each had runoff. #2 is doing MUCH better today! When I watered her, I gently held up the stems and leaves to prevent any splash off onto the leaves. After I returned her back to her lighted spot, she kept her stems and leaves closer to the soil elevated; slightly arched upwards. She's popping little leaves ALL OVER the friggin' place, so I'm very curious to see how she bounces back. The transplant shock looks like it's finally out, and she's opening up everywhere. The leaves coming up now are smaller than before the xplant, and much more frequently. #3 is about where #2 WOULD HAVE BEEN size-wise, if it wasn't for the xplant fiasco. She's opened up and looks like a shorter version of Honey. I have to admit I was tempted to top her too, but I want to see how big she can get before we go to flowering, which is January 8th. Since she's very similar looking to Honey, I'm thinking I can get her around the same height. #4 is the shortest, yet stoutest with the denser leaf sets. I elevated her closer to the Comet 300 to see if that will help open her up too. I'm waiting on a guy who may want to trade my hvy perc for a 400w mh. Don't know yet tho'. I'm also looking at this mh hps dual setup from HTG Supply High Tech Garden Supply too. $359 not incl. s/h is a bit steep right after the holidays, so that will to wait. I'm hoping the end of the month may be better. That's another reason I want to wait as long as I can until I flower. I'd really like to get some good lighting for flowering. If things go as planned, I'll head up to Denver to trade for a fully functional mh light. Pick up one of these bulbs Planet Natural-- Checkout Step #1 to use during flowering. I can get some higher output cfl soft lights to supplement. I already have flowering cfl for my large 3 bulb lamp, I'll just have to get a daylight cfl for the comet 300. If I can generate enough cash early in January, I can order the hps mh grow light. Best case scenario is I find a local seller wanting to let go of a hps mh grow light. I'm curious to see how far along I can keep them vegging. January 8th is the projected date for 12/12, but I may wait until the 12th, longer if i can get some 1000w hps and mh. I'll have to research the 'side-effects' of a prolonged veg period too.......
Regarding the longer veg time, I should be good to go for a couple more weeks. This will give me time to acquire and upgrade the lighting to prep for the flowering stage. I don't want to mess up or create an opportunity for potential stress, so I want to make sure I'm ready to go before I do go into flowering. I did some backtracking, and I see that #4 has had 4 fox farm nutrient feedings, #3 has had 3 ff feedings, and #2 had 2 ff feedings more than #1 had when it was at those respective ages. I'm thinking it shouldn't take long at all to slowly get them all around the same 'age', using the nutrients as a gauge to know when to hit flowering. I still need to research more on molasses too......
Here's a few more photos for the visual Family Portrait This is #2 She's still not too lush, but lotsa new leaf sets.... This is the baby, #4 #3 is here #1 is our oldest
I also am on the hunt for some unsulfured black strap molasses and cocoa powder to alternate between this combo and the foxfarm nutes. I've read pretty good results about the cocoa, and I'm about ready for the molasses too. I'm mixing in 1/2 teaspoon of molasses and 1/2 teaspoon of dark cocoa powder into a gallon of water. I'll keep you posted!
thanks! I'm very happy with the results so far. I'm just trying to stay one step ahead. I appreciate your input.
Honey, Day 44 So this is the last week of vacation, and I want to have our new garden ready for plants. I've taken each one and rotated them 90 degrees, but kept them in their respective positions/places since last night. I keep Honey under the stealth hydro setup and I've added a a clamp light on the base for the lower leaves. She has 9 nodes going right now. The problem is she'll have to wait to flower until the others show that they're ready. Since she's only going to get bigger, she may have to be transplanted. She's in a 4 gallon now, but I don't know how much more she'll grow. Obviously, repotting was a major concern, especially due to her size. I think I'll just get a 5 or a 6 gallon pot and I'll cut her existing bottom out and 'reload' her into the larger. This won't be for awhile, but I have to be prepared for that contigency. You know, I really wish someone would make a pot that could be assembled and dis-assembled. This way the walls and/or the bottom of the pot could be removed for ease of repotting.....anyway, I'm getting off task. #2, Day 29 I feel so bad for her/him. I think....no, I KNOW I jacked her up. First, the transplant fubar, and then to help her I topped her, inadvertantly topping an extra set of stems. I'm keeping her exclusively under the comet 300. She's doing very well branching off new leaf sets all over the friggin' place. These sets are further developed tho', compared to what Honey, and the others have done. She's sprouting tiny 7 leaf sets like crazy. I can say that if she survives into flowering, she'll definitely won't be like Honey. I'm thinking more brushier, stouter. Time will tell. #3, Day 26 She's doing very very well. Her growth pattern and leaves look more like Honey, just younger. Right now, she's the next tallest, and bushier than Honey. As a matter of fact, if you look at my original pictures, Honey's about the same age as #3 is now. I think the difference is very obvious. #4, Day 23 She's still very stout. I don't think she'll stretch out like Honey, but who knows? She has stretched out a little bit, but still staying low and round. She's really quiet and low maintenance. ..... I think that since the younger ones will be further developed, they should be ready to flower a little sooner. I'm not rushing by any means. I just don't think it'll take as long as Honey did to get where she's at. I'll be picking up a 400w mh lamp tomorrow evening, so that' s gonna be sweet! Towards the end of the month, I'd like to pick up a second lamp, preferably one that can use both mh and hps bulbs. I'm thinking of either a 400w or maybe a 600w...don't know yet tho'. From there, I'll use the mh/hps lights as primary, and the cfl's to supplement them. Light should be good, for now..... Next watering, I'll be using the cocoa/molasses concoction. I think I'll need to use more than a gallon with Honey. Each of my waterings or feedings before were with a gallon. This always gave some good runoff without overwatering. With Honey, I didn't get as much runoff, this last time. I'm thinking that due to the height and size, I may need to add another 1/4 of a gallon. Today, I'm monitoring the temperature in the new room since we'll be gone most of the day. The temp's steady so far between 76-80.
so my new lamp will take some more thought and creativity to implement it into the grow room. I'm still looking for a hps/mh setup, but not a high priority, for now. No biggie. My mom came by with a bottle of molasses (Plantation, unfulfured) and a container of Green & Black's Organic Cocoa Powder, so I loaded up 3 desert cocktails for #2 #3 & #4. I watered them Friday, and they're still relatively moist; I'm hoping tomorrow to try the cocoa/molasses. I do have to start looking at flowering bulbs. I have to order a large flowering cfl for the comet 300, and a handful of soft white bulbs. Lowe's had a bunch of 300w cfls that I'm hoping to snatch up soon. #2 is coming back with a vengeance. She's something right out of a Judas Priest song. The top stems have started branching even more leaf sets. The other leaf sets I talked about earlier are invading the larger leaves that withstood the transplant shock. She's like a 2 headed monster....an angry two headed monster. #3 is brushing up like crazy. Today, it seemed to focus more on the lower leaves, than the height. She's much bushier. #4 is finally starting to stretch out. Not really reaching, but ready to look up now. Her leaf sets are maintaining their round shape, just larger. ....Honey is continuing with the asymmetrical stems. I should have the 5 or 6 gal pots this week. I'll need to get a couple bags of Ocean Forest too. I've rotated them through into a new location, so they all receive the same amount of light. I'm thinking of doing this rotation every 3rd day, maybe every other.....don't know yet.